Shadows in the Snow
by Bandit3
Summary: (The end is here...Ch.8 and Epilogue up!) =When Sora disappears in the middle of the night, naturally Tai sets out to rescue her. But Sora has lost more than her way this time...and suddenly it's not a sure thing that she'll ever find her past again...=
1. Laughter in the Stars

Digimon- Shadows in the Snow  
A Digimon Fanfic by Bandit  
  
It had been a long week of fighting the Digimon emperor with all the younger Digidestined...but it was finally Christmas vacation! We'd all been through a lot, and we were glad when Yolei invited us all over to her house to relax for a while. I was happy to be there, and to hang out with Tai, Kari and Yolei. As I sat teasing Tai and eating potato chips, however, I had no idea that the strangest adventure I had ever been on would soon begin...or that it might well be the last time I ever saw my friends!  
  
Chapter 1- Laughter in the Stars  
  
"Hey! Sora, give those back!"  
Sora Takenouchi lazily stretched in the overstuffed armchair she was sprawled across, 'accidentally' raising the bowl of potato chips she held over her head. She gave the boy sitting on the floor next to her a bland, innocent look.  
"Give what back, Tai? I don't see anything, do you?"  
Tai swiped at the bowl, missing by a foot at least. "That's because you've got them over your head, now gimme!"  
"Ah-ah-ah, Tai. Don't be rude," Sora said, a mischievous grin on her face as she lifted the chips further out of his reach. "Say the magic word."  
"Abracadabra, now give!" Tai yelled, standing up and grabbing for the chip bowl. Sora was ready, however, and stood up on the seat of the chair, laughing.  
"Sorry, wrong word," she gasped between giggles as Tai tried to grab her arm to lever the bowl into reach. "Now you have to ask extra-nice." There was a peal of laughter from another chair, where Tai's sister Kari was sitting perched on the arm, Gatomon in her lap, in the middle of a conversation with TK Takaishi, her best friend. TK was sitting in the chair with his Digimon Patomon on his head, and they'd both paused the conversation to watch the older teens' squabble. They were also both in hysterical laughter at Tai's plight. Even Davis, who had been sulking on the sofa because TK and Kari were sharing a chair-and ignoring him-had turned to watch his role model make a fool of himself.  
"C'mon, Tai, she's just a girl," Davis cheered, waving his can of soda around. Sora scowled and threw a chip at him; it bounced off his nose, to TK and Kari's even greater amusement. The two friends were leaning on each other at this point, unable to sit up. Davis growled and threw the chip back, but it missed and hit Tai in the back of the head instead. TK and Kari began to cry with laughter.  
"I don't see what's so funny, Kari," Tai snapped, making another grab for the chip bowl. Kari seemed to be unable to answer, but waved her hand around as though trying to communicate by sign language, first at Sora, then at the chips, then at Davis, then at Tai, before collapsing into giggles again. Tai frowned, then suddenly grinned and jumped up onto the chair with Sora. Sora yelped and climbed onto the back of the chair, which was luckily large and sturdy, still holding the chips out of reach.  
Gatomon leapt gracefully off of Kari's lap, a little miffed because her human's laughter had reached the point where even she could no longer manage a catnap in her lap, and went to stare up at the precarious 'battle' raging on the chair as Tai tried to grab the chips without overturning the entire armchair and its occupants. He grabbed Sora's sleeve and tried to pull the chips down far enough to grab, while she giggled even harder and switched hands so that whichever arm he was holding wasn't the one with the chips.  
"Hey! You guys, what's going on?"  
Everyone in the room froze and looked towards the door. Yolei, who had gone to get more food, was standing in the doorway with Cody, a plate of chocolate sandwich cookies, and a disapproving expression on her face. She stared up at Tai and Sora, who were staring down at her, Sora balancing the chips in one hand and pushing Tai away with the other, Tai in mid-grab for Sora's chip arm.  
"You guys, at least try and set an example for Cody now that he's here. Sheesh, I could hear you in the kitchen. Sora, will you please quit flirting with Tai and just give him the chips already?"  
"FLIRTING?!" both teens yelled, just as Sora lost her balance. With a massive crash, the armchair toppled over, landing the two Digidestined in a tangled heap on the floor as chips went flying. The bowl landed on Gatomon's tail, and she yowled and fled behind the sofa, using Davis' head as a springboard. Sora squirmed under Tai's weight; he had landed on top of her.  
"I was not flirting with him! And get off of me, Tai, you're heavier than a load of bricks!"  
TK and Kari completely lost control at this, and Kari fell off of the chair arm into TK's lap. She lay sprawled across the chair and him, laughing so hard she was unable to get up, while TK sat with his face in his hands, shaking with laughter.  
"Ohhh, I think I'm going to wet my pants," he groaned. Kari leapt to her feet in a miraculous recovery.  
"Oh, no you don't!" she exclaimed. "Not when *I'm* in your lap!"  
A smile spread across Yolei's face, and she began to laugh right along with the two of them. Even the usually serious Cody was smiling. Tai rolled off of Sora, looking sheepish and a bit red about the face.  
"Sorry about that."  
Sora blushed. "It's okay. It was my fault anyway." She reached behind herself and picked up one of the scattered potato chips, holding it out rather awkwardly. "Uh...want a chip?"  
Tai stared at her for a minute. Then, he burst out laughing as well. The full situation had hit Sora as well, and she began to giggle.  
Davis looked around the room at the others, all of whom were laughing, even the Digimon. "Being surrounded by weirdoes really wasn't in the job description for being a Digidestined..." For some reason, this only made Tai and Sora laugh harder. He sighed and shrugged. "Oh well, if you can't beat 'em, clean up after 'em. I'll go get the vacuum."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Later that night, after the potato chips had all been successfully vacuumed away and the Digidestined had said goodbye for the night, Tai, Sora and Kari stopped at the door to Sora's apartment building, which Tai had offered to walk her to. There was a pause as Kari looked from face to face, then she grinned.  
"I'll leave you two alone. See you at home, Tai!" With that, she skimmed off into the night. Tai scowled after her.  
"Thanks a lot, Kari," he muttered under his breath. Sora blinked at him.  
"Did you say something?" Her breath was a cloud of white in the cold night air.  
"Uh...nothing, no," Tai covered...badly. "Hey, um..."  
There was a long pause. Sora played with one of her sunflower barrettes, trying to get up the nerve to say something. Joshing with Tai in front of everyone was one thing; being alone with him like this was quite another, somehow. At least he was as tongue-tied as she was. That could be a good thing, she thought. Or it could just mean he's bored and doesn't want to be here anyway... She frowned at that thought, and unclipped and reclipped the barrette once.  
Tai looked up from where he'd been studying his shoelaces as he heard a clicking sound. Uh-oh, she's frowning...what do you suppose that means? Nothing good, I bet... He blinked, surprised. Aren't those the hairclips I got her for her birthday a few years back? Hey, I guess she likes them after all! That's something good, at least.  
Okay, just say something! It's not hard, you know, Sora thought fiercely to herself. "Uhm...nice night, isn't it?" Oh, that was intellectual...great job, Sora. Keep it up and you'll have him running off after Kari at the first chance he gets.  
All right, Kamiya, just stay cool. Be smooth. "Yeah...the stars are nice." Ooh, real smooth, that. I'm sure she'd much rather be here than, say, up in her room scraping gum off of her tennis shoes. Tai scowled. Yeah, well it was a lot easier talking to her back when everybody else was around!  
To his surprise, Sora smiled. "Mmhmm. It's really clear out for this time of year. You can see millions of them." She paused, and then asked, "Want to see something?"  
"Sure," Tai said. She caught his hand and pulled him over to a bench where they could sit down, away from the trees that obscured the sky in front of the apartments. Sitting down, she patted the bench next to her.  
"Here, come sit."  
Tai sat. Smiling, Sora pointed up at the sky.  
"See those five stars up there? The ones in kind of a flattened 'W'?"  
He shrugged. "Not really. There's a lot of potential 'W's out there."  
Sora rolled her eyes. "Here." She put her head alongside his, so that their cheeks brushed, and pointed again. "See?"  
Tai gazed up at the sky, finding it a little difficult to focus with Sora's face so close to his that he could feel her breath on his cheek. Suddenly, he realized where she was pointing.  
"I see it!" he whispered. "What is it?"  
"Cassiopeia."  
"Cassy-what?" Tai exclaimed. "Now there's a long name! And I thought Koushiro was bad!"  
Sora laughed. "Cass-ee-oh-pay-uh. The Queen. It's my favorite constellation."  
"Oh, okay. Mine's Orion."  
"The Hunter. Good choice. Is he up yet?"  
Tai shrugged. "Dunno. Want to hear something weird?"  
It was Sora's turn to shrug. "Okay."  
"You promise not to tell?"  
She laughed. "When have I ever told your secrets?"  
"Good point. Well...I used to make wishes on him. You know, when I was little. For a new bicycle, or an invitation to a birthday party, that sort of thing. Silly stuff, mostly."  
"You're kidding! I used to do that-" Sora turned to face him in surprise, to find herself looking directly into his eyes, their faces only an inch or two apart. "-too," she finished softly.  
The moment stretched into eternity, and Tai realized he was holding his breath, half afraid to move for fear of breaking the feeling of magic floating in the air. Sora felt like sparks were jumping between them, her eyes wide as she gazed at him, floating away...  
A horn honked a loud rendition of 'La Cucaracha' on a nearby street, and time shifted back into gear again.  
Sora broke their shared look and turned away, shivering. Tai frowned.  
"Cold?"  
She shook her head, but he could see the goose bumps rising on her arms. Shrugging out of his jacket, he draped it across her shoulders, pulling it firmly around her as she protested that she wasn't cold, that he didn't need to do this. Tai snorted.  
"You're freezing, Sora. I can feel you shivering. If you catch a cold I'll feel all guilty for keeping you out here like this. Do you want me miserable like that?"  
Sora giggled. "No."  
"Then think of it as taking pity on me, if that makes you feel any better."  
"All right..." Sora rolled her eyes again, but settled against the bench looking much more comfortable. After a minute or two of looking up at the stars together, there was a call from one of the upper windows of the apartment building.  
"Sora! You've got a tennis match tomorrow! Come in for bed, sweetie!"  
"I'll be right up, Mom!" Sora called over her shoulder, then stood and took a few steps toward the building before stopping and looking back at Tai. She hovered on the edge of decision for a long moment, then hurried back and gave him a hug. "Thanks," she whispered in his ear, before straightening.  
"For what?" he asked, half jokingly.  
Sora shrugged. "For waiting with me, out here in the cold. For talking constellations with me. For..." She paused, then smiled. "For just being such a great friend...and such a sweet guy." The look on Tai's face was priceless.  
"Well...you're welcome," he stammered. He stood up to go and brushed himself off, then looked back at her, as if unsure what to do.  
On an impulse, Sora leaned over and kissed his cheek.  
Then, stunned by her own boldness, she turned and fled down the sidewalk and into the apartment building.  
Tai stood for a long moment, staring at the closed door with the oddest look on his face, as his hand reached up to brush his cheek where she'd kissed him. Then a little smile spread across his face, and he strolled off down the sidewalk, hands in his pockets, gazing up at a particular 'W' of stars...  
It was only after he'd gotten home that he realized; Sora still had his jacket.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Sora absolutely floated into the apartment, humming a little tune to herself as she slipped off her shoes and lobbed them into the basket by the door, smiling like a Cheshire cat. Suddenly, her eyes widened.  
"Oh, no! His jacket..."  
"Whose jacket, dear?" Mrs. Takenouchi inquired, coming into the room. Sora blushed.  
"Tai's. He lent it to me, and I'm still wearing it. I should probably go take it back to him."  
Mrs. Takenouchi frowned. "It's too late at night, dear. You'll probably wake up his little sister, if not his whole family. You can give it back to him tomorrow." She smiled at her daughter. "Now get washed up for bed. You need your rest for that tennis match tomorrow."  
"Right. G'night, Mom," Sora said, and waltzed into her room, tossing Tai's jacket across a chair back and closing the door. She waited a minute, listening, to make sure her mother had gone back to the kitchen, then made a running leap and landed spread-eagled on the bed, giggling. She rolled over onto her back, a huge smile on her face. "I have got to call Mimi!" She reached for the phone, then frowned, running time zone differences through her head. "Huh...hold on, she won't be awake yet. Tomorrow, then." Bouncing out of bed, she grabbed an oversized T-shirt and wriggled into it, then headed out to the bathroom to brush her teeth and all that good stuff, humming again.  
Listening from the kitchen, her mother smiled.  
"What has gotten into that girl? Oh, well..." She turned back to the cucumbers she was chopping for Sora's lunch the next day with a shrug. "I guess she's just getting to That Age. No biggie, as those kids say..."  
  
_____  
  
All the usual disclaimers. Etc, etc. You know how it is. M_~* 


	2. Losses in the Night

Shadows in the Snow  
Chapter 2- Losses in the Night  
  
kssssshhhhhhhkskskssshhhhhhhhktshhhhhhhh...  
Sora's eyes blinked open, and she lay still for a long moment, wondering what had awoken her. The answer came as she became aware of a faint hissing, crackling sound, echoing from another part of the house. Frowning, she sat up.  
I wonder what's making that weird noise? It sounds a little like flames...I hope nothing's on fire. I'd better go check.  
Pulling back the covers, she swung her bare feet onto the floor, stood woozily up and gave her head a good shake to clear it of sleep before padding into the hall.  
A weird blue light was flickering on the wall across from the den, and pooling on the floor between the door and the wall. Sora blinked several times to get used to the light, took a few steps tentatively toward the door, then paused.  
I don't know if this is such a good idea... She sighed. Then again, it could be some sort of electrical fire. I have to find out; the whole apartment could go up in flames if I don't do something. Closing the distance to the door in a few resolute strides in an attempt to not lose her nerve, she took a deep breath and stepped inside.  
She only got a quick glimpse of something round and blue, the size of a large platter, before the blaze of blue light glaring from it made her hold up her arm to shield her eyes. The crackling sound increased, becoming a roaring like a thousand radios' worth of static crossed with the sound of a huge bonfire on a winter's night. She gasped for breath as a coldness seeped across the floor, chilling her bare feet and legs, like the air that flows from the door of an open refrigerator...but a hundred times colder. Squinting through her fingers, she made out an enormous circular disk of crackling, sparking blue energy, at least three feet wide already...and growing. It was beautiful, in a wild, foreboding way. She wanted to run from it, run until she passed out from exhaustion rather than be near it, and yet something in her wanted to look at it more closely, to study it, to touch it...  
Tentatively, she stretched out a hand, still shielding her eyes from the glare with her other arm, and held it a few inches from the disk, poised on the edge of indecision. White pulses of energy like the ripples on a pond began to emanate from the point where her fingers almost touched the blue fire, and tongues of the blue light licked up like flames to snap at her fingers. They seemed to have no effect. Gathering courage from this, Sora slowly reached the last inch, closing the gap.  
The tip of her index finger touched the energy.  
There was a flash of blue-white light.  
Sora was sucked silently into the disk like a leaf into a hurricane.  
She didn't even have time for a scream.  
And with a sound like the last remnants of a milkshake being slurped away, the disk collapsed in on itself and vanished, leaving only a popping sound of air rushing to fill a sudden vacuum in its wake.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Ken Ichijouji, the Digimon Emperor, chuckled to himself as he watched the foolish Digidestined girl vanish in a flash of light. The screen went blank; there was nothing more to see.  
"So immature, these Digidestined. They make my job far too easy... This one should have been given the crest of Curiosity, not Love. Or maybe just the crest of Stupidity..." Still laughing, he turned to a board of buttons. "Oh, well. Either can kill a cat just as well...or a Digibrat." He waved his finger over the panel, smiling wickedly. "Hmm...where shall I have my Dark Portal spit her out? Dense jungles...boiling deserts...vast oceans..." He frowned. "So many biomes, so little time. I wouldn't want her to die in the portal. That would be far too easy. This plan requires suffering to be truly effective." Suddenly, his face lit up in a look of true, manic evil. "Ahh...perfect."   
His finger came down at last, jamming an ice-blue button flat into the black metal of the board. There was a metallic phut from the panel, a sound of gears grinding, a crackle of static, then silence.   
Ken grinned and tilted back his chair, folding his arms behind his head. "This should be interesting...pity I won't be watching. Even demigods need their beauty sleep." With that, he kicked the panel, which let out a mechanical whine and shut down, plunging the room into darkness. "Ahh, much better." With a sigh, the Emperor drifted off into a sleep as deep as the one he'd woken Sora from, scant minutes before, but filled not with dreams of Tai, but with dreams of conquest...and of suffering.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Blue, crackling, dizzying energy everywhere! Sora wrapped her arms around her head, wailing a silent scream that died in the sound of bonfires and static and insanity surrounding her. She spun through a wasteland of blue, wildly out of control, her legs whip-lashing with the speed of her endless spin. It was almost like the times she'd gone through the digital portals with the younger Digidestined, yet nothing like it. That had been joy and triumph and a sense of adventure filling her to her bones. This was pain and fear and misery rolled into one, and all played out in a mad gyrating world of blue lights and white noise. She would have done anything to make it stop, but it kept going, like a roller coaster gone wrong, or the time she'd let Tai talk her into going on the Zipper at the fair...  
Tai...  
"Taaiiiiiiii!" she screamed, but the sound was drowned in the flood of static. She felt like she was going to throw up, or turn inside out, or die, and the spinning continued, whipping her hair across her face and her nightshirt across her legs and her soul against the walls of her heart until she wanted to die, just to end the nightmare...  
There was a crack like lightning, and it all stopped.  
Sora blinked, her arms still wrapped around her head, her eyes still jammed shut, and tentatively listened. No static. No spinning. Just a faint whistling sound, and a feeling like wind rushing past her ears. She opened her eyes.  
She was falling, with only feet to go, towards a glittering expanse of white.  
She screamed.  
There was a burst of stars against the back of her eyelids, and a dull pain coursed through her head, wrenching at her mind.  
And then, finally, mercifully, she slipped away into blessed darkness, and there was silence...  
  
* * * * *  
  
"And you say she's just...gone?" Tai's eyes widened, and he looked like he was about to drop the receiver of the phone. Kari stared at him over the top of her rice bowl. He looks like he's been punched in the stomach by a MetalMeramon. I wonder what's up with him?  
"Tai?"  
He didn't even look at her. He seemed stunned, listening to something the person on the other end of the line was saying. "No. I'm sorry, Mrs. Takenouchi, but I don't have any idea. She didn't mention anything like that to me." Another pause. "Thanks for telling me. You too, Mrs. Takenouchi. Bye." He hung up, still looking like he'd seen a ghost, and turned to Kari.  
"Weww?" she said, her mouth full of rice.  
"Sora's gone."  
*wbpffutttsplurch!*  
"Gone? What do you mean, gone?" Kari asked through what little rice was left in her mouth, staring at her brother.  
"I mean gone. Vanished. Disappeared. Her mother said that when she woke up this morning, Sora's bed was empty. None of her things are gone, so she probably didn't run away, but there are no signs of a struggle. Her mom thought she might be over here..." He blushed a little. "But obviously she isn't. I don't know where she is, but..." He sighed. "I don't like this one bit." He tossed her a dishtowel from the rack by the stove. "Here, you might need this."  
Kari glanced down at the mess of rice littering the table, and blushed. "Oh...sorry about that." She began to wipe the table, but her hand slowed its motion, then stopped, as she watched her brother dejectedly slump from the kitchen and into his room, closing the door. *He looks really worried. I hope Sora's okay, for his sake as well as hers...*  
  
* * * * *  
  
White. White, white, white. Shiiro. Blanc. She didn't question where the words came from, or where she'd learned them. There would be time enough for that later, when she got out of the white. Wrapping her arms around herself, she shivered uncontrollably. Assuming there is a way out, she thought to herself. Maybe everything here is white. Wherever 'here' is... she added as an afterthought. Her bare feet crunched through a crust of white, and she was suddenly buried to her hips in it. Shaking and blue-lipped, she struggled out of the bank, forcing back the tears welling in her eyes for fear of their freezing to her face before she could wipe them away.  
She swiped them away with the sleeve of her clothes, then looked up, trying to get her bearings. An impossible task in this wasteland. For all she knew, she'd been crossing her own path for hours. Or minutes. Time was irrelevant in the white. The furrow she made in it as she passed could easily be refilled by the droves of airborne ice that whipped her cheeks and numbed her fingers. She squinted into the distance.  
And saw a light.  
Forcing the feet that had lost feeling long ago to keep moving, she fought her way through the deep banks of white. The light was so close, yet so far away. It grew as she neared it, and became a window; a great arched window set in a wall of stone, along with many other windows. A great fortress loomed out of the driving white before her, with an equally great door set in its front. She stumbled the last few steps, raised her feelingless hands to catch herself against the door as she fell, and curled one into a numb fist before slamming it into the hard wood.  
"Open the door!"  
The words were hoarse and faint, coming from her frozen throat. She swallowed and tried again, slamming her fist harder and harder against the unyielding door until she could see it but not feel it bleeding, the drops of red spattering bright against the white at her feet, sinking little dimples into it before being swallowed by more of it coming from above.  
"Open the door! Please, I'm begging you, open the door!"  
There was a rumble of voices, heard faintly with frozen ears through the thick wood, and then a scrape of wood on stone as the great door laboriously opened. Unable to support herself any longer, and without the door there to hold her up, she fell onto the flagstones inside, her eyes closing. Voices echoed in her icy ears.  
"What is it?"  
"Stand back, let it breathe!"  
"Light a fire!"  
"Fetch blankets!"  
"Do you know what it is?"  
"I've seen nothing like it in my life!"  
"Me neither!"  
"Here, step aside! Let me through, you foolish menfolk!"  
The last voice was vaguely maternal, and she felt herself lifted in huge, soft arms, and wrapped in something warm.  
"Poor little cub. It's well nigh frozen. Build up the fire, quickly! Get it something hot to drink!"  
The furry arms carried her with a gentle rocking motion, and she began to drift away, her numbed fingers curled in the soft fur of her rescuer's chest. The rocking stopped, and the arms tried to set her down, but she clutched at them, the only warm, good things in a world of cold and white. Gently, her weak fingers were disentangled from the fur, and she was helped to sit up as something warm and sweet was held to her lips. She drank, choking a little, but getting most of it down. A delicious feeling of warmth was spreading from something on her left, and whatever she was sitting on was warm, soft and dry. The arms took the drink away and settled her on the soft thing, before tucking the blanket tighter around her. A soft crooning reached her ears, and she snuggled into the soft thing, her body beginning to thaw.  
As she fell asleep, warm at last, her eyes flickered open once before she drifted off, and she saw her surroundings for the first time since she'd set foot in the fortress. A large, gentle white face looked down at her, kindness in its round black eyes.  
How ironic, she thought. It's white, too...  
Then sleep claimed her.  
  
* * * * *  
  
When Tai arrived at the Takenouchi's apartment, the police car parked out front made the whole situation come suddenly into focus. He'd been worried at first, but somehow it all hadn't seemed quite real. There had still been that niggling feeling that it was all a dream, and that he'd wake up any second, grab for the phone, dial Sora's number and hear her familiar voice reassure him that she was fine. Seeing the police car shattered that hope. As he hurried inside, Kari at his heels, he realized he wasn't worried anymore.  
He was scared.  
Mrs. Takenouchi met him at the door, looking pale and drawn. She smiled vaguely when she recognized him, an empty expression.  
"Oh, it's you, Taichi. You'll be wanting your jacket. Come in, please."  
Tai blinked. Jacket? Oh, yeah...I'd completely forgotten about that...  
Kari nudged past him, following Mrs. Takenouchi into the kitchen. He shook himself awake and went in after her.  
Sora's mother was pouring hot water into three mugs. She looked up as Tai came in. "There you are. What would you like? I have English breakfast, Lady Grey, Garden Herbal, o-cha, instant coffee, hot cocoa..."  
"Uh, just tea, please," Tai stammered, dropping into a seat next to Kari and looking around. It had been awhile since he'd been to Sora's house.  
"Hot cocoa sounds great, thanks," Kari piped up, trying to be cheery. Mrs. Takenouchi smiled at her, almost genuinely this time, and reached for the tin of cocoa mix.  
Tai's foot bumped something under the table, and he bent over to look. It was a tennis ball, rolling slowly across the floor from the push he'd given it. He grabbed it before it could roll away, and sat up.  
"Mrs. Takenouchi?"  
She glanced over her shoulder, and he held up the ball.  
"Oh...that will be Sora's. She does tend to leave her things lying around..." Mrs. Takenouchi swallowed, and turned back to her tea making. "Take it into her room, there's a good boy. You can get your jacket while you're in there; it's on her chair."  
Tai stood up, holding the tennis ball and looking a bit awkward. Mrs. Takenouchi seemed to be concentrating on the tea, however, and he felt bad about reminding her of the thing she seemed to be trying to forget for the moment. He was a bit glad for the excuse to leave the room. Hurrying down the hall, he reached Sora's door and opened it, stepping inside and closing it behind him. He felt for the light switch, found it and flicked it on, blinking the spots from his eyes.  
Sora's room was surprisingly neat for that of a teenage girl. He wondered if her mother had cleaned it up a bit, or if it was always that way. He hadn't been in there in what seemed like ages... She'd redecorated. The old wallpaper, green and stamped with soccer balls, was gone, and the walls were painted light blue. A painting of flowers hung over the head of her bed, instead of the old soccer posters he remembered. He walked over to the dresser and set the ball on it, then glanced around for his jacket.  
A bright red object caught his eye, and he turned toward it. A familiar-looking red envelope lay on Sora's bedside table. Feeling a little guilty, but very curious, Tai went over and sat down on the edge of her bed, reaching for the envelope. Turning it over to the address side, he recognized Sora's name, scrawled in his own untidy handwriting.  
Nah...couldn't be, he thought, and slid the card from inside it.  
It was a valentine, creased at the folds from many openings and closings. A red rose was printed on the front, with the words For My Valentine scripted under it in gold. Inside, a simple Happy Valentine's Day, love Tai was written in the same messy scrawling of blue ink that 'graced' the front of the envelope. However, on the back in smaller blue letters, was a short paragraph of text. Tai read it quietly out loud, blinking hard a few times as he did.  
"I saw this kind of rose in your garden and thought you might like the card. What's it called? I guess a rose is a rose, whatever you call it. It's a nice color, though. It reminds me of the sunset, back in the Digiworld. Remember how nice the sunsets were there? Now with all these modern conveniences like the Digiports, we don't spend many evenings in the Digiworld anymore. I kind of miss them, really. I was wondering if you'd like to come with me sometime, to watch one. We could find a part of the Digiworld without any control spires and make an evening of it. Just the two of us. Call me, okay? Love, Tai."  
Sighing, Tai set the valentine down. He'd written it the past winter, in a burst of boldness. Sora had called him, but the talk had turned to sports almost immediately, and they'd never gotten around to the trip. And now it might be too late... he sighed miserably...  
Don't even think about it! Tai thought fiercely to himself, snapping out of his wretched daze. There's no way anything bad has happened to her! She'll be back soon, and this time I won't take her for granted, and we will go see that sunset! So there... With a resolute nod, Tai tucked the valentine back in its envelope and set it back on the bedside table, then headed out to get his tea...  
  
__________  
  
Once again, Digimon isn't mine. So...send me your opinions! What thinkest thou so far? Long, isn't it? I hope it's caught your interest. Coming soon, Chapter 3: Awakenings in the Mind! 


	3. Awakenings in the Mind

Chapter 3- Awakenings in the Mind  
  
  
Warmth. I'm warm. And wrapped in a blanket. Well, that sure makes a nice change. Where am I, anyway? Her eyes blinked open. The first thing she saw was a slender hand, bandaged and resting on the corner of a blanket. Behind it, a fire flickered in a huge stone fireplace. She frowned. Whose hand is that? She tried to move her fingers, and the hand's fingers twitched. Oh...I guess it's mine. Now I feel dumb...  
  
The hand wasn't moving properly, and she frowned harder and pulled it back under the blanket, massaging it with her other hand to bring the feeling back to it. If the pins and needles running up and down it were any clue, it had fallen asleep. She tried to sit up, and gasped for breath as stars danced in front of her eyes. Her hands flew to her head, and she felt a bandage on her right temple. Lying down again, she muttered something rude and rubbed at her eyes. How long have I been lying here?  
  
"Well, hello, little one. I was wondering when you'd wake up."  
  
Her hands flew away from her eyes, and she stared up into a huge, round white face, looking down at her from a few feet above her head.  
  
"AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"  
  
She threw up her hands to protect herself, burrowing beneath the blanket. A chuckle of maternal laughter came from above her, and she paused in her attempts to hide and peeked timidly from under the hem of the woolly blanket. The huge white face was still there, and it was smiling at her. Cautiously, she allowed her eyes to travel downward. The face was attached to a matching huge white body, which was attached to huge white arms and legs, which sported huge white paws. One of the paws was holding something that was neither huge nor white, but which *was* a pottery bowl steaming even in the warm air and smelling like heaven to her poor empty stomach.  
  
"Is that for me?" she blurted, hunger doing what common courage hadn't to make her bold. The huge white thing chuckled again.  
  
"Yes, little one, it is for you. Calm down and I may give it to you. I don't want you getting sick from eating on a worried stomach."  
  
Immediately, she scooted into a sitting position, wrapping the blanket around herself.  
  
"I'm calm! See? I'm very calm. I'm calmer than a..." she paused, trying to think of a good simile, came up with nothing and barreled on. "...than a lot of things, none of which I can think of right now, but which are undoubtedly all extremely calm. And very hungry. Like me."  
  
"You are an engaging little thing, aren't you?" the white thing said fondly, and settled itself on the floor next to her, placing the bowl in front of her. "Go ahead, sweet, eat. Take it slowly, though. Don't rush yourself." She needed no encouragement, and made a sizable dent in the bowl's contents, which seemed to be a sort of fish stew. It would have been delicious under any circumstances, and in these it tasted like ambrosia of the gods. Her white nursemaid seemed pleased by her good appetite, and made no attempt to distract her with conversation.  
  
Once she had answered the urgent call of her stomach, she took a few minutes to look around. She was in a large stone hall, built of gargantuan blocks of gray stone and made cheerful by colorful hangings and detailed woodwork and carvings. Warm golden light from the comfortably burning fire in the great fireplace behind her lit it with a friendly glow, softening the stark color of the stone. Opposite her she could see the huge wooden door she'd fallen through the-day? night?-before, now closed against the storm she could faintly hear raging outside.  
  
Her memories of her arrival were seeping back to her now. She'd been out there, in the cold white... She shivered in memory, and the white being turned to look at her, an expression that passed quite well for concern in its round black eyes.  
  
"Are you alright, little one?"  
  
She nodded. "I'm fine. Just remembering..." After a pause, she said softly, "You saved me, didn't you?"  
  
"I wouldn't call it that," the white thing said good-naturedly. "I'd say you pretty well saved yourself, braving that storm out there like you did. You did some nasty things to your paws, there. You're a tough little creature, for all you haven't any fur. What are you, anyway?"  
  
She opened her mouth to answer, then froze. "I-" Pausing, she searched her memory, blinked, and searched again. Nothing. A third and fourth try, and still nothing. Her eyes widened suddenly, and a wave of sick horror washed over her as the nervous feeling that had been niggling at her shoved open the door and presented itself in all its incomprehensible glory.  
  
There was nothing to search. Her memory stretched back into the white, faded, and vanished into a cloud of confusion.  
  
She didn't know who she was.  
  
"I...I don't remember..." she choked, feeling lost, cut adrift on a cold stretch of nothingness. She was falling, with nothing to hold on to, nothing to catch at to slow her fall...  
  
Something soft and warm and furry wrapped around her, anchoring her in the here and now. She was not falling, she reminded herself. She was right here, in the hall, and the big furry white thing was hugging her. Wrenching herself back to the present again, she looked up into the kindly face.  
  
"You poor sweet," the white thing said. "Not even a name?"  
  
She shook her head, wordlessly miserable. It gently patted her back.  
  
"Well, then we'll just have to choose you one, won't we? Let's see, you came in out of the storm... 'Storm'?"  
  
She shook her head again, this time hard.  
  
"Uh-uh."  
  
"Well, is there anything you remember?" it said, as kindly as possible. She thought for a minute, her eyes closed.  
  
"White," she finally said, opening her eyes. Her nursemaid blinked.  
  
"White?"  
  
"White," she repeated, more firmly this time. "I was cold, and there was white everywhere. And then I saw the lights, and I went towards them, and got here."  
  
The white thing let out a surprised laugh. "Oh, the snow! Of course..."  
  
"Snow?" she asked, interest in her voice. It nodded.  
  
"Yes, snow. It's frozen water, and it falls from the sky and covers everything. We're having a snowstorm right now, in fact. It's very pretty afterwards, as long as you're not out in it."  
  
"'Snow'..." She pondered the word for a long moment, then smiled. "That's what I remember, so that's what I'll be. Snow."  
  
The white creature chuckled again. "Beautiful. So, you're to be called Snow then. All right, Snow, may I ask if you're going to finish your yuli?"  
  
"My what?" Snow said, confused. Her white guardian gestured toward the cooling stew, and she nodded. "Oh...the fish. Is the fish called that, or the stew?"  
  
"The stew," the creature said, smiling.  
  
"Okay. Got to remember that, so I can ask for it again. Yuli. Right." She glanced up at the white creature. "As long as I'm learning names, what are you called?"  
  
Another warm smile crinkled the creature's furry face. "I am a Frigimon, sweet."  
  
"Uffrigeemon? Is that your name?"  
  
"No, I'm a Frigimon. A Frigimon is a type of Digimon, suited to live in cold temperatures. We're all Frigimon here at Fort Winter, except for a few Gabumon, of course."  
  
Snow blinked. Her head was beginning to spin. "Okay, Digi-who? Frijja-what? Goober-which? I'm lost..."  
  
The Frigimon chuckled. "Not 'Goobermon', Snow. 'Gabumon'. Gabumon are a type of Digimon as well. They attack with Blue Blaster. Digimon is short for digital monsters, and all the Digimon live in the digital world, or Digiworld. Gabumon Digivolve into Frigimon, which attack with Sub-Zero Ice Punch, and many of both species now live in this fort, Fort Winter, in the icy northern part of the Digiworld."  
  
"And a partridge in a pear tree," Snow said, grinning, then paused and tried to remember where she'd learned the phrase. The answer didn't come. She decided not to think about it right then, and went back to her original pursuit. "That's all very nice, the Frigimawhoosit and all that stuff, but you still haven't told me your name."  
  
The Frigimon frowned. "I don't suppose I really have a 'name', exactly. I do have a sort of nickname..."  
  
"Okay, that would do fine," Snow said eagerly. "What is it?"  
  
"It's 'Bella'," the Frigimon said. Snow nodded.  
  
"Then that's what I'll call you. Thank you for saving me, Bella."  
  
Bella smiled. "I repeat, it was your strength that saved you, Snow. I only shooed the menfolk away and brought you over to the fire."  
  
"And wrapped me in a blanket, and brought me some..."  
  
"Yuli?"  
  
"Yeah, that was it. And helped me find a name."  
  
Bella gave her a long look. "Well, you have a name now, little one, but no place. I may be able to help with that, too. Would you like to look around?"  
  
"You mean a tour? Of Fort Winter? I'd love it!" Snow said happily. The fort seemed like a cheerful place...almost like a home. Who knew, she thought, perhaps one day it would be home. Her home...  
  
Getting to her feet, she tottered for a moment on feet sore and numbed by repeated freezing and thawing, wrapping the blanket around her waist like a trailing skirt to keep her legs warm. She took a few teetering steps, then yelped in surprise as Bella swung her up onto her massive furry shoulder. "A bird's eye tour for our newest friend," Bella announced, and headed off down the hall.  
  
  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
  
Tai sighed, erasing a bit of the scribble he was working on and redrawing it more carefully, a moody look on his face.  
  
"Your artwork's improved."  
  
"Matt!" Tai hurriedly shoved the piece of paper into his desk. "When did you get here?"  
  
"Your sister let me in. I wanted to see how you were doing." Matt sat on the edge of Tai's bed. "Like I said, your artwork's getting better. I remember that map you drew..."  
  
Tai snorted. "It was a perfectly good map! I could read it just fine."  
  
"Nobody else could. It looked like a tarantula got squashed on it. At least I can tell what that is." He gestured in the direction of the desk. Tai sighed.  
  
"Aw, man...I was hoping you wouldn't."  
  
"Too bad...you're not the dude of doodles you once were, Tai. I'm afraid your scribbles are no longer...scribbles. Here, let me see."  
  
Tai reluctantly drew the paper out of his desk and handed it to Matt, who turned it over in his hands. It was smudged, and the dimensions were off, but it was unmistakably a sketch of Sora. Looking up at his friend, Matt sighed.  
  
"You really have it bad, don't you, dude? How many days has it been?"  
  
Tai put his face in his hands. "Four. Four days..." He raised his fear-filled eyes to meet Matt's gaze. "What if she's really gone, Matt? What if she's out there somewhere, lost, or hurt, or...or..." His voice trailed off, and he swallowed hard. "And I can't help her! I can't do a thing!"  
  
Matt reached out and patted his shoulder. "It's rough...we're all scared, Tai. But about the helping thing..."  
  
Tai frowned. "What about it?"  
  
"Well...Izzy went over to the Takenouchis' apartment the other day, and he just called me and said he'd discovered something: something important. Wouldn't explain over the phone, but he sounded really excited. He said for me to get you and Kari, then meet the others at the computer lab. TK and Kari already left; he told her the minute we got in the door, and she wouldn't wait."  
  
Tai leapt to his feet. "Let's go!"  
  
"There's my old friend Tai!" Matt said happily. "Right, let's get moving!"  
  
  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
  
"...so I brought my Digital scanner, just in case, and you won't believe what I found! There's a sensor anomaly of epic proportions, right in the middle of the Takenouchis' computer room! The readings were off the charts!"  
  
"Well, what was it? And in normal English, please," Matt insisted. Izzy blinked.  
  
"Hey, I was getting there, Matt. There seems to be a sort of cross-dimensional post-incident trace-level remnant disturbance in the Takenouchis' apartment!"  
  
"A what?" every human and Digimon in the lab but him exclaimed. He sighed.  
  
"It's as though someone punched a hole in the space-time continuum, right through to another dimension, and it hasn't quite healed over yet. There was still a...a trail, sort of, that I could scan and follow, and so I did." He looked solemnly at the others. "It leads directly to a northern sector of the Digiworld. And judging from the degree of deterioration, it was opened the night Sora disappeared."  
  
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Davis exclaimed. "Let's go there and find her!"  
  
"It's not that simple, Davis," Izzy explained. "The disturbance caused by the force required to rip such a hole, as well as the influence of the closing hole itself, has disrupted the fabric of time and space for miles around the entrance and exit sectors. If I try to open a Digiport into the area for all seven of you, anything could happen! You all could be swept away, or sent to the wrong place, or the computer might just up and explode. Furthermore, I would be almost unable to communicate with you once you arrived there, if you even did."  
  
"Is there any way you can get just one person there?" Tai asked, quietly but with a resoluteness behind every word that was startling for a boy his age. Everyone looked up; he had hardly spoken since he'd arrived. Izzy frowned.  
  
"Hmm...I suppose I could rig a reinforced Digiport for just one person, but with all the residual turbulence from the dimensional rip it would be a rough ride. There's an incredible chaos factor in that thing, even days after it was created. Prolonged passage through one of them could probably ki-" Izzy broke off at the look on Tai's face. "Ah...well, then...yes, I think I could get one person there... But there's still the problem of communication. Any emails you sent me would have only a one-in-fifty-seven chance of getting through, at best, and visual contact would be out of the question."  
  
"Then I'll just send whatever message I want to get to you fifty-seven times," Tai said, already reaching for his jacket.  
  
"Uh, Tai, that's not quite how it-"  
  
"How soon can you get this reinforced portal set up?"  
  
"Well..."  
  
Tai strode over to stand in front of Izzy, looking him straight in the eyes. "Look, Izzy, you said that rip thing was dangerous. Well, that means Sora could be lost, or even hurt out there, and with all this disturbance she can't get back. If there's even the smallest chance I can go and get her, I'm not going to stand here and worry about visual whatever-it-is. So get cracking on that portal, okay?"  
  
Izzy looked long and hard at the expression on Tai's face, then nodded. "Right. I'll get on it." He turned to the keyboard, but paused. "What time do you want me to pick you up?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I already said we won't have much chance at communication, so we'd better set up a preordained time and place for me to open the return portal. You go find Sora, bring her there, and wait. I'll work on doubling the reinforcement to carry two people while you're gone. I'm sure I can figure it out, with Yolei's help. That is, if she doesn't mind." Yolei shook her head. "Great, then we're set. Well?"  
  
Tai thought for a minute. "Give me three days. That should be enough."  
  
"Right, three days, then. I'll drop you at the same place the rip came out, and we'll call that the pickup spot, too."  
  
"Sounds good. Who's going to cover for me?"  
  
Matt shrugged. "We could stage another camping trip."  
  
"It's twenty degrees outside, Matt," TK protested.  
  
"Well, then we could say you're staying at our place. My dad's out of town for a few days, he'll never have to know."  
  
"It's not great, but it should do. I'll run home and ask my mom if I can spend the weekend at your house. I'll try and drop a hint that you're being supportive of the whole Sora thing by letting me spend some time talking about it-she'll sucker for it. Then I'll pack and be down here."  
  
"Got it. And, Tai?"  
  
"Yeah, Izzy?"  
  
The computer whiz looked up from his monitor. "Pack warmly. This place is colder than a supermarket fish freezer, and twice as icy."  
  
Tai swallowed hard at the thought of Sora, stranded in the snow.  
  
"Right..."  
  
_____________________  
  
Well? How'm I doing? Please, folks, review! My ego needs inflating! M_~* (What, did you really think we authors ask for reviews so we'll know what to write next?! Heheh...joudan da yo. -Just kidding.-) Oh, yeah, and I don't own Digimon. If I did, Taiora and Takari would have survived Ep. 50, natch. M_~* 


	4. Memories in the Meeting

Chapter 4- Memories in the Meeting  
  
  
Half an hour later, Tai burst back through the door of the computer lab, dressed for cold weather, a backpack slung over his shoulder.  
  
"Ready, Izzy?"  
  
Izzy looked up from finishing his last-minute adjustments. "Ready. Your mom bought it?"  
  
"Hook, line, and sinker. I told her we were planning on going skiing this afternoon. She thinks you're a saint, Matt. I've been 'moping around the house for days, it's so wonderful to see me out and about again'... I think you might be getting a thank-you card in the mail in a few days, dude."  
  
Matt grinned. "No problem...but I don't think she'll be thanking me if you get yourself killed."  
  
"Translation?" Tai said, swinging the backpack to the floor for a minute so that he could sit down. Matt stepped forward and put a hand on his friend's shoulder.  
  
"Be careful, man. I know you've been grooming Davis to take over for you, but...I think we'd all rather you stuck around for a while yet. And besides, I'd miss you. We all would."  
  
"Thanks, buddy," Tai said, standing and pulling Matt into a hug. "I will. I'm not planning on passing the baton quite yet." Moving apart, Tai reached out and ruffled Davis' hair. "No offense meant, of course."  
  
"Of course," Davis said, grinning. "None taken. Hey, watch the goggles."  
  
"I gave you those goggles, and I'll thank you to remember that," Tai mock-scolded. Giving Kari a hug, he turned to TK. "Take care of her, you hear?"  
  
TK blushed. "I thought you were going to be sticking around, remember?"  
  
"Just while I'm gone. In case Mr. I'm-A-God-And-You're-Not decides to show up and mix things up a little."  
  
"Right. Don't worry, we'll be fine."  
  
"Yeah, we can take care of ourselves, Tai," Kari said, a slight hint in her voice.  
  
"Sorry...you've already proved that. Call it brotherly over-protectiveness."  
  
"Okay..." she gave him another hug, then stepped back. He turned to Yolei and Cody.  
  
"I'm counting on you to help Izzy with that portal, Yolei. Think you can handle it?"  
  
"Absolutely!" Yolei said, snapping him a salute. Tai grinned.  
  
"With an attitude like that, I know I'm in good hands. Hey, Cody, keep this bunch of loonies with their feet on the ground, okay?"  
  
"Sure, Tai," Cody said. "I'll do my best."  
  
"That's all I'm asking. So, Izzy?"  
  
"I'm on it. If you're done with your goodbyes?"  
  
"Ready to roll." Tai swung his backpack up onto his shoulder, then moved to stand in front of the computer.  
  
"See you guys in three days. Digiport, open!"  
  
A flash of light shot out of the computer screen, enveloping Tai and pulling him into itself in one fell swoop. The remaining Digidestined stood blinking the spots out of their eyes...and maybe a few tears, as well.  
  
"Don't worry...he'll be fine." TK was the first to break the silence.  
  
"Yeah," Davis said, cheering up a bit. "This is Tai we're talking about, after all."  
  
"When you put it that way...he's doomed."  
  
"Gatomon!" Kari exclaimed.  
  
"Sorry..."  
  
"Hey, Tai's gotten a lot more capable since we first got dumped into the Digital world," Matt said calmly. "He'll be back before we know it."  
  
Kari looked over at Matt. "Thanks, Matt..."  
  
"I'll take your word for it," Yolei said, striding over to stand by Izzy. "As for us, we'd better get cracking on that strengthened portal. Right?"  
  
"Right," Izzy agreed, and she slid into the seat of the computer terminal next to his, cracking her knuckles. Kari winced, and turned towards the door rather longingly. TK noticed.  
  
"Well, we'll leave you techno-jocks to it, then. C'mon, you guys."  
  
The programming-illiterate of the Digidestined moved toward the door. As they left, TK reached over under the cover of the general confusion of nine people and Digimon making their mass exit and gave Kari's hand a squeeze. She looked up in surprise, and smiled gratefully. TK smiled back, and they walked out the door together.  
  
Nobody noticed, except one person.  
  
Davis narrowed his eyes. Mr. Nice-Guy, huh? I'll show him...someday...  
  
  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
  
"Whoaaaa....Oof!"  
  
Tai lay spread-eagled in the snow for a minute, then moved onto his hands and knees, shaking his head to clear it of dizzied stars...and snow.  
  
"Sheesh, Izzy, you could have warned me," he muttered, but got to his feet, blowing on his hands and rubbing them together to keep them from going numb. "Well, I guess he did say he was going to drop me. I just didn't think it would be so...literal." He looked around. White, featureless snow in every direction. "Well, this would be just great, if I was in the mood to build a snowman..." He paused, thinking. "Hmm...I've got to start somewhere. What do people do when they want to find something in a snowy wasteland?"  
  
He set down his backpack in the snow and rummaged through it, pulling out a compass. Holding it out, he squinted at it, trying to read it. The needle spun wildly.  
  
"Oh, that's helpful. Must be that disturbance Izzy was talking about. Now what?" He took one glove off, licked his finger, then held it up, trying to figure out which way the wind was blowing. "Ow!" He quickly stuck it back in his mouth, melting the ice crystals that had begun to freeze on one side of it, then wiped it dry as fast as he could on the sleeve of his coat, shoving his hand back into the warm glove. "Man, that's cold! ...Well, I guess the wind's blowing from that direction." He glanced in the direction the ice crystals had frozen on, then scowled. "Oh, that really helps me. Now I'm just as lost, and my finger has frostbite. Okay, what now?" He stopped talking to himself, trying to think. "Aw, man, it's too cold to think out here! I-"  
  
He froze...figuratively. Slowly, he turned to listen to something. A sort of crunching noise... Sound carried well over the featureless snow. Tai blinked.  
  
"I think it's coming from that direction..." He pointed in the direction the wind was blowing. With a shrug, he said, "Oh, whatever. Might as well," and took off running across the snow toward the sound.  
  
The snow was relatively packed, except for the top inch or so, which the wind occasionally picked up to whirl in little eddies across the surface. Tai plowed through one of these miniature snow-devils, blinking snowflakes out of his eyes, and glanced over his shoulder to check the line of his footprints. He was still going straight, as far as he could tell. Looking back ahead of himself, he noticed an irregularity in the texture of the snow ahead of him...  
  
Crunch!  
  
"Whoa!"  
  
Tai suddenly found himself buried to his waist in snow. He struggled for a minute, but the snow around him kept crumbling, only making the hole bigger. Stopping to think for a moment, a skill he'd had to learn in his earlier days in the Digiworld, he reached out and began to pack the snow ahead of him into a harder surface. His hand brushed something that wasn't snow, and he dug a few handfuls of snow out of the wall, pawing them apart to see what he'd found.  
  
A small metal hairclip in the shape of a sunflower lay in his gloved hand.  
  
"Sora must have come this way..." Tucking the clip into his coat pocket, he packed faster. When he had a decent wall made, he crouched, then jumped, scrabbling up and over the edge and onto firm snow just before the wall behind him fell into the sizable hole he'd made. He stopped, breathing hard, and dusted the snow off his gloves, before checking his direction against his tracks and setting off again, one hand turning the clip over and over in his pocket...  
  
  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
  
Snow finished breaking the film of ice that had formed over the watering hole in the river ice with the small hand pick that she held, and leaned over to dip her buckets into the chilly water. Neatly hooking their handles onto the yoke she balanced over her shoulders, she started back for the door of the fort along the well-shoveled path, leaving the ice pick for the Gabumon helping her draw water in case he needed to clear out any of the fast-freezing ice. She passed the Gabumon on the way in; he nodded and gave her a toothy grin as she walked by. Reaching the door, she walked inside, waved through by the Frigimon on guard, and through the halls to the kitchen, where she dumped one of the buckets into the great tub of water that serviced the inhabitants of the fort.  
  
During snowstorms they melted snow and ice for water, but the Frigimon and Gabumon insisted that snow water was sub-par to the water of the river. Snow couldn't taste a difference, but then again, she wasn't a Frigimon or a Gabumon. The fact that no one had yet figured out what she was hadn't deterred her from quickly making a place for herself at Fort Winter. The lady Frigimon loved to coo over her, calling her a 'dear, sweet little thing', and had made her a pair of soft boots to keep her feet warm when she went outside, although she preferred to run barefoot on the warm flagstones of the great hall. Her hands had healed quickly, and no longer hurt her, although her head sometimes still throbbed. She still wore her cotton tunic that she'd been found in, with the green, blue and black plaid blanket knotted around her waist, now pinned with a brooch-like pin that Bella had found for her. She presently had a second blanket draped over her head, protecting her face from the snowy cold outside.  
  
Bella had also helped her comb her hair and pin it back with the metal hair ornament she'd been wearing when she arrived. Her surrogate mother, for that was the role the Frigimon had taken, had been unable to tell her what sort of object the clip depicted, but she had said it looked a bit like something called a Floramon. Snow couldn't remember ever seeing anything like it... But then, there are a lot of things I can't remember, she thought ruefully to herself, checking the level of water in the tank. It was nearly full; the Gabumon's two buckets should fill it for the day. Grinning and tugging off her boots, Snow picked up the other bucket and ran off to get a rag to clean the hearth.  
  
Although Bella had told her she didn't need to help with the chores around the fort, Snow was eager to do something to take her mind off of, well, her mind. In particular, the hazy nothing therein. She had a natural feel for housekeeping, and Bella had said she'd probably done it before, in her pre-fort life. It was something to do, anyway, and it made her feel she was doing something to pay the kindly Fort Winter Digimon back for taking her in and making her part of the family, so to speak. Having gotten the rag, she ran back into the hall. The fire was roaring, but she left the blanket wrapped around her head in case the Gabumon came back inside and told her there wasn't enough water after all. Kneeling, she dipped the rag into the bucket and began to scrub the stones of the hearth.  
  
A commotion at the door made her look up. The Frigimon on guard duty was arguing with someone outside, and she could just see her friend the Gabumon through the doorway, looking hangdog.  
  
"I tried to stop it, Sir," it spoke up, trying to make itself heard, "but it wouldn't be stopped, Sir! It wants to know if we've seen a Zorro, whatever that is..."  
  
"Not a Zorro! Sora!" a male voice protested. "A human girl, about my height or a little shorter, brown hair, brown eyes, probably in her pajamas. Has she been here?"  
  
"Listen, whatever you are, I don't know what a pajama is and I don't want to," the guard Frigimon said, frowning and crossing his massive arms. "Now why don't you run along and bother some other Digimon?"  
  
Snow frowned as well. She didn't know what a human or a pajama was, either, or how tall this unseen person was, but she did know what color her hair and eyes were, and this person sounded like he might know who she was. Standing up, she waved the guard Frigimon over.  
  
"Excuse me," he said to the person outside, and lumbered over. "What is it, Snow? I'm a little busy here," he muttered as kindly as his stressed-out mood would allow. She smiled behind the blanket and patted his arm.  
  
"It's okay, I understand. But...you know that guy out there?"  
  
"Oh, were you listening to that? He'll be gone in a minute, don't worry-"  
  
"No!" Snow exclaimed. The Frigimon looked taken aback, and she continued more gently. "I mean, could you just let the poor guy in? I want to talk to him. He sounds like he might know me."  
  
"Yeah, well he might know you, but we don't know if he's on your side or not. Somebody dumped you out there, you know. Could be him, come to finish the job."  
  
Snow chuckled. "I'll take my chances. He doesn't sound dangerous, just cold. If it makes you feel better, you can stand over us while we talk."  
  
The Frigimon sighed, his barrel-like chest heaving. "I guess..." he said, and turned to go back. "Sorry, but it's part of the job to be paranoid," he called over one furry shoulder as he returned to the doorway. Snow laughed.  
  
"All right, you," the Frigimon said, leaning out into the cold air again. "You can come in, but you owe Lady Snow a favor. She told me to let you in, so I'd better not get blamed if you turn out to be a jerk."  
  
"I'll have to thank this Lady Snow," the voice said, sounding amused, and the Frigimon swung the door further open to let the speaker step inside.  
  
  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
  
"Hmmm..." Two blue eyes narrowed, and the Digimon Emperor frowned, looking at something on one of the many screens before him. Something didn't look right... Suddenly, he slammed a fist into the panel with a yell of anger. "No! This wasn't part of the plan! How..." Breaking off suddenly, he punched up a reading on the anomaly he'd discovered. His frown deepened as he read the information his scanners produced, and he turned to the little green Digimon cowering behind him. "Do you know what those Digibrats have done now, Wormon?"  
  
"No, Master," the miserable creature said nervously. The Emperor smiled dangerously.  
  
"Of course you don't. You're an imbecile."  
  
"I also can't see the screen, Master," the worm Digimon meekly said, trying to defend its intellect. "You're in the way." The Emperor drew back his foot, and Wormon scurried backward out of his range, cringing. "I'm sorry..."  
  
"As you should be," the Emperor said, frowning. "I would have thought you'd have learned not to argue with someone as many times smarter than you are as I am. But that's not important now. What is important is that those blasted Digibrats have managed to open a Digiport into that sector!"  
  
"But, Master, how is that so dangerous? Won't they just freeze like that girl you threw in there last week?"  
  
The Emperor's eyes narrowed, and Wormon ducked, shielding his head with his front limbs and squeezing his eyes shut...  
  
Seconds ticked by, and no punishing kick or blow was rained on his carapace. Not even a chair was flung his way. Wormon tentatively opened one eye.  
  
The Emperor was smiling.  
  
Suddenly, he began to laugh. "Wormon, for once in your miserable life you're exactly right! What can they do? They won't even be able to get out again, not if they try to take the girl with them! If she's even still alive... And they're so noble, they won't think of leaving without her! They'll be trapped!" The laughter became maniacal, and Wormon cowered behind the chair. "A-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! O-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho! Ee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee! Oh, I amuse myself immensely..."  
  
  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
  
Snow, sitting on the stone hearth with the scrubbing rag still clutched in her hand, was struck with a feeling of...strangeness...as the silhouette of this stubborn person came into view, looking small in the huge doorway. She let the rag drop to the floor and stood up, feeling that if this stranger held the key to her past, she'd rather face Fate on her feet. The stranger stood uncertain on the doorstep for a long moment, but hurried inside. He came to a sudden halt when he spotted her standing there.  
  
He wasn't tall, not by the standard of the Frigimon, but he had a presence about him that made him seem to have more inches to his name than a measure could prove. His hair was a wild bird's nest, damp with snow-water, and his eyes were clear brown, and widened when he saw her.  
  
"Sora?" he said, half unbelieving. She shook her head, quietly.  
  
"No," she whispered, her voice muffled and distorted by the blanket. He frowned, as if a distant thought niggled at him, but pushed it away.  
  
"Oh...I'm sorry. I thought...never mind what I thought. You must be Lady Snow, then."  
  
"I am," Snow agreed. He blinked, disconcerted, then continued. That voice was so familiar...  
  
"In that case, I owe you one. Thanks for standing up for me. You must be important, to be able to boss a Frigimon."  
  
"Not important, not really," she said, smiling behind the blanket. "Just fondly doted on. The Frigimon take care of me, and I help them. What's your name?"  
  
"Uh, Taichi...Taichi Kamiya."  
  
"It's nice to meet you, Taichi-Taichi Kamiya," Snow said formally. He frowned, not sure if she was joking or not.  
  
"No, no...it's just Taichi."  
  
"Oh, all right then. What brings you to Fort Winter, Taichi?"  
  
Tai started to answer, then stopped. Something about this Lady Snow wasn't right...but she had said she wasn't Sora, and Sora would have no reason to lie to him like that. Still... "I'm looking for someone," he answered, carefully. "Someone I lost...not that long ago."  
  
"That's a coincidence," Snow said, deciding suddenly to trust this person. "I'm looking for something I lost, too. Only a few days ago, in fact."  
  
"Hey, weird!" Tai grinned. "Maybe we were fated to meet, or something. What did you lose?"  
  
"Something very precious," Snow said softly. She didn't want to elaborate until she knew more about this Taichi. A strange expression passed over his face, and he bit at his lip.  
  
"Me too..." he whispered.  
  
Snow blinked. This boy...she'd met him only a few minutes ago, and yet the pain on his face tugged at something inside her, something buried in the haze of gray that obscured her memories. She swallowed, hard. This is harder than I thought... Maybe it's like getting the bandages off of my hands. You just have to give it a good tug and get it over with.  
  
She looked up suddenly. The boy, Taichi, was talking again.  
  
"...so what kind of place is this? I mean, what's it like?"  
  
"Well...it's a good place. A good home. The Digimon here are very kind to me. They take good care of me." She paused, surprised at how hard it was to describe the place she'd come to love. Tai picked up the pause.  
  
"What kind of Digimon?"  
  
"Ah...well, Frigimon and Gabumon, mostly. A couple of other snow Digimon, like the old Mojyamon that cooks for us. And...and me."  
  
Tai glanced at the face obscured behind the blanket, trying to get a better look through the shadows. "And...what sort of Digimon are you?"  
  
Here's your chance-just do it! It's just like pulling off your bandage. At least it'll be over and done with.  
  
Walking up to him, she pulled the blanket from her head.  
  
"I was hoping...that you could tell me."  
  
______________________  
  
Okay, peoples. Two reviews? For my year's hard work and the jewel of my heart? For my precious tribute to a beloved and terribly wronged aijou? TWO reviews? *sigh* What *is* ff.net coming to, when passing strangers can say 'Ni!' to innocent fics at will?  
  
In other words...Please! Review! I'm drowning here! -_-* Oh, and just so you know...coming soon, Chapter 5: Regrets in the Revelation. Ciao! -Bandit O_o 


	5. Regrets in the Revelation

Chapter 5- Regrets in the Revelation  
  
  
  
Tai's jaw dropped.  
  
"You are Sora! But why...how...why didn't you..." His voice trailed off, and he stared at her, looking hurt. She winced.   
  
Oh, great. Now what have I done...  
  
Suddenly, his face lit up. "Oh, who cares! You're alive! You're okay! Oh, man, I am so relieved! This is...man!" Before she could realize his motives and duck, he had wrapped her in a huge hug. She struggled, but he didn't notice. "Izzy'll open the portal in two days, and we can go home! Mimi will be so happy, she's been terrified, and she couldn't come to Tokyo, all the flights were booked! You've got to call her the minute we get back! Oh, and the others will all want to hear about what happened to you. Actually, me too. You'll have to tell us the whole story the minute we get home and-"  
  
"But this is home!" Snow exclaimed, pushing him away. Who was he? What was he doing here? Who did he think he was?! And...who did he think she was?  
  
He stumbled back, and stared at her again, utterly confused.  
  
"Sora?"  
  
She sighed. This was going to be difficult.  
  
"Taichi...I'm afraid I don't know what you mean by home. Or Izzy, or a portal, or a Mimi or a Tokyo or any of that. I...I don't know who I am."  
  
"What?"  
  
He didn't understand. She could see it in his face, and it made her wilt. How could she explain to this person whom she had obviously once known so well, that everything he knew about her was suddenly wrong? She sighed and sat down on the floor, burying her face in her hands. Why me...?  
  
Tai was next to her in an instant. "Sora, what's wrong?" he said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Please, at least try to explain..."  
  
Snow steeled herself. Whoever he is, he has the right to know. I have to do this. Besides...maybe he can help after all. Taking her hands from her face, she met his gaze.  
  
"It's a long story...and a short one. We'd better find someplace to sit down."  
  
  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
  
"...and here you are."  
  
"And here I am," Tai echoed thoughtfully, gazing around the small room they had settled in. It branched off the main hall, but Snow had assured him they wouldn't be disturbed. "So you don't remember a thing?" he asked again.  
  
"Nothing but gray haze and white snow," Snow said sadly, with a faraway look on her face. Tai swallowed hard.  
  
Nothing? How...this is terrible! I can't believe it. Every minute we spent together, every adventure with the others, all of her friends and family, just gone? It's hard to believe she's taking it so well... He paused and corrected himself. No, it isn't. Whatever she calls herself, she's still Sora, and Sora's the strongest girl I know. Of course she's dealing with it. Probably better than I would if it happened to me, in fact.  
  
"Bella thinks it has something to do with the injury I took to my head. She's not sure how to fix it, though. But..."  
  
"But what?" Tai said, snapping back to reality from his worried thoughts.  
  
"I thought that maybe, if it wasn't too much trouble or anything, that you could try to help. If that's okay." Snow looked down at her hands, folded shyly in her lap. What if he says no? This is my only hope...  
  
"Okay?" Tai exclaimed. "Of course it's okay! Whatever you remember or don't remember, Sora, you're still my friend. I'll do anything I can to help." He paused, frowning. "By the way, what do I need to do?"  
  
Snow sighed. "I'm not sure... Maybe we should ask Mojyamon."  
  
"The cook?" Tai said, a little skeptically. Snow shrugged.  
  
"He's pretty smart about this sort of thing. We've had a few talks about it and all, you know? It's really helped. He's busy with lunch, though."  
  
"Oh...well, we can wait, right?" Tai said. Snow giggled.  
  
"I've waited four days. I can wait a few more hours. But, um..."  
  
"Go ahead," Tai said, smiling. Snow blushed.  
  
Why does talking to him do this to me? It's silly...I've only known him for an hour, or less! Still...  
  
"I was wondering...if you would tell me, about those people you mentioned. Izzy, and Mimi, and Tokyo, and Kari. And my family, if I have one."  
  
Tai nodded. "Sure...but, ah, Tokyo is a city. Not a person."  
  
"Oh! Oops..." Snow said, laughing. Tai chuckled.  
  
"I'd be glad to tell you about them. It still seems a little weird, but sure, I'll do it."  
  
"Oh, thank you!" Snow exclaimed, surprising both of them by throwing her arms around his neck in a hug. She pulled back quickly, blushing harder than ever, and Tai laughed nervously, hand behind his head.  
  
"Right...I think I'll start with Mimi, then."  
  
Snow smiled, leaning back against the back of the cushioned bench they were sharing. "Mimi. What a name. So, who is she?"  
  
Tai thought for a minute. "Huh...a ditz, definitely. Airheaded. Narcissistic, though no worse than Matt-we'll get to him later," he added offhand, noticing Snow's confused look. "Oh, and despite all that, one of the sweetest, most loyal, and most loving people I know. Also your best friend, not counting me."  
  
Snow grinned. "Sounds like such a nice person."  
  
"Oh, she is. Loves the color pink. I think if you took away all her pink stuff for a day, she'd shrivel up and die. She even dyed her hair pink once."  
  
Snow giggled. "Weird. I don't think much of pink."  
  
"You never did, so at least I know you haven't changed much," Tai said jokingly. Snow smiled.  
  
"Now who's this Matt?"  
  
"Matt's a ladies man. Totally hung up on Mimi, though. This girl called Jun follows him all over the place. She drives him nuts. Lessee, Matt's blond, plays harmonica and bass guitar, sings like a Matchbox Twenty star..." Snow gave him another perplexed look, and he shrugged. "It's a band. A singing group," he elaborated. "Anyway, he's my other best friend, besides you. But we used to whale the tar out of each other when we were younger. Hated each other. You were always breaking up our fights. You were the only one who could, sometimes. A very calming influence."  
  
"Really."  
  
"Yes, really. What, you don't believe me?"  
  
Snow shrugged. "I don't have much choice, do I? It's not like I have any reference..." At his hurt look, she laughed. "Of course I believe you. I was joking. Don't look so upset, Taichi."  
  
Tai swallowed. "Sorry..." I have got to stop feeling so sick every time I remember that she doesn't know me any more... I'd almost forgotten, somehow. Still...she trusts me. Why? If she really doesn't remember me, what makes her so sure?  
  
Snow was looking at him, expectantly. He sighed and continued.  
  
"Right, then. Let me see... Izzy. Izzy is, for lack of a better word, a computer nerd."  
  
"Computer...nerd?"  
  
"Ah...it's an Earth thing. It means he...likes machines. Uh, yeah. He's also really smart. He's got an answer to just about everything, except for one little thing."  
  
"Which is?" Snow said, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Girls. He doesn't know what to do with them. Especially when they're crying. One time, when Mimi was in hysterics, his Tentomon told him to make her stop, and he said, 'My laptop can't do everything!'"  
  
"I'm guessing a laptop is one of those 'computer' things?"  
  
"Yeah, that's about right."  
  
"Well, that's silly. How could a machine make a girl feel better?"  
  
"Don't ask me," Tai said, grinning. "His lack of girl skills is going to catch up with him sometime soon, I think."  
  
"Really? Why?" Snow said, realizing she was actually interested in these anecdotes about people she'd never met...well, not in her memory, such as it was, anyway. Maybe there's more left than I thought...if only this works!  
  
"Well, see, there's this girl called Yolei-"  
  
"Ah. I see..." Snow grinned. "She's fond of him, then?"  
  
"Well, I'm not sure," Tai admitted. "There's this other guy, but he's a jerk, and I don't think she likes him anymore. But if he really isn't an item with her anymore, then I think poor Izzy might get his world turned on its ear somewhere in the near future."  
  
Snow laughed. "That should be interesting."  
  
"I know..." Tai agreed.  
  
"So, who else is there?" Snow inquired. Tai shrugged.  
  
"Huh...well, there's TK, Matt's little brother; he's really nice. Very cheerful guy. There's my little sister Kari, who's kind of a pocket psychic. She's got a crush on TK, but she hasn't admitted it to anybody yet...at least, not to my knowledge. There's Joe, your average uptight med student. Well, he's not as bad as he used to be; he's mellowed out a lot since he was younger. He used to be absolutely anal-retentive, though. Never mind what it means!" he blurted hurriedly at Snow's confused look.  
  
"Um, there's Daisuke, Davis for short. He's like me when I was a kid, only worse." Snow stared at him. Oh, yeah...no memory of me as a kid. Man, this is hard... "Ah, hyperactive, and shortsighted. And with a tendency to rush into things without thinking first." She giggled, and Tai shrugged. "What can I say? At least I outgrew it...mostly," he added, remembering his decision to come here.  
  
"Anybody else I should know about?"  
  
"Cody, definitely. He's only eight, but he's a whiz with a kendo stick...it's a fighting art with bamboo swords. I don't know much about it, but it sounds pretty cool. He thinks before he speaks, unlike a lot of people I know, and when he does say something, it's a good idea to listen; he usually has a very good point."  
  
Snow nodded. "I wish he was here, in that case. I could use a little wise counsel."  
  
Tai sighed. So could I...  
  
"What about my family?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Snow crossed her arms. "My family. I...do have one, don't I?"  
  
"Of course you do!" Tai exclaimed, surprised. "You have a great mother who loves you! She owns a flower shop, and she wanted you to take over for her when she retired, but you didn't want to. You used to argue a lot, but you got to understand each other better a few years ago, and she learned to let go. She smells like flowers all the time, from working in the shop; it's one of my earliest memories, that smell. I used to spend a lot of time over at your house when I was little. She's really pretty, too. Dark hair, high cheekbones, big eyes."  
  
"She sounds wonderful," Snow sighed, her eyes closed and face lifted slightly to the ceiling as she tried to picture this mother she couldn't remember. Tai smiled at the look on her face; it was almost angelic.  
  
Sora's mother isn't the only beautiful one in their family...  
  
"What about my father?"  
  
Tai winced. "Your father?"  
  
"That's what I said. What's he like? Do I have any sisters or brothers?"  
  
With a sigh, Tai shook his head. "No, no siblings. You're an only child."  
  
"And my father?" Snow insisted, looking hard at him.  
  
"Your father...is dead."  
  
"What?!" Snow cried, her hands going to her face. "What...what happened?  
  
"It was about eight years ago," Tai said, hanging his head. "When you were seven. He and your mom used to own the flower shop together. He was at the register, and a man came in and held him up. There were customers in the store, and the man tried to kidnap one of them, a little girl. He was on the run from a murder...the police said he probably was after fast cash from someplace small and out of the way, and a hostage or two. Your dad tried to stop him when he started to leave with the girl. The man had a gun...he shot him..." Tai sighed. "He died in intensive care. They caught the killer the next day. You...you never liked to talk about it much," he finished lamely. Snow swallowed hard.  
  
There was a long silence.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"What?" Tai said, looking up. "Why? I just told you-"  
  
"I know what you told me," Snow hurriedly interrupted, as if not wanting to hear the words again. "It must have been...hard. To tell me, I mean. Thank you...for being brave enough to do that for me." She looked shyly up at him, her hair falling into her eyes on the side that wasn't pulled back by her sunflower pin.  
  
Tai smiled. "It was nothing. Your hair's in your eyes, by the way." He suddenly   
  
remembered something, and fished in his pocket. "I believe this is yours," he said, holding out a hand curled around something. As his hand opened, Snow's eyes widened, and she gave a little gasp.  
  
"Oh!"  
  
"Yeah, I think you lost it out in the snow. I found it on my way here. It matches the one you're wearing-"  
  
"No, that's not it," Snow murmured. "I...I remembered..."  
  
  
  
She stumbled and fell, the clouds of snow she raised blowing away almost before they could form. Struggling back to her feet, she stubbornly fought onwards, facing into the driving wind. As she reached up to push her hair out of her eyes, her hand touched...nothing but hair.  
  
"No!"  
  
Falling to her knees, she felt about in the snow. It wasn't there. She touched the other side of her head-that one was still there, so cold that it burned her fingers as they brushed it. She floundered in the snow, trying to find it, but it was gone, and she was going in circles. Kneeling in the snow, she began to cry, her tears freezing to her cheeks as they fell. It was gone, and they were all she had left of him here...  
  
Of who?  
  
"Oh, no..." She blindly flailed for the memory, the vital face... "NO! I can't...think... What's happening to me?!"  
  
The snow was stirred up into heaps and hollows behind her as she hurried away, trying not to think, to spare herself the pain. She pushed away the broken memories, burying them as the scudding snow was burying the spatters of blood and tears left to pockmark the snow behind her...  
  
  
  
"What's happening to me?" she softly echoed herself from the 'new' memory. Tai gave her a funny look.  
  
"What? Did you remember something?"  
  
"Yes..." she whispered, stunned. Suddenly, she looked up at him, her face an odd mixture of delight and fear. "I...but, it was...and I..."  
  
"Sora?" Tai said tentatively. Snow sighed.  
  
"I remembered...losing the..."  
  
"Barrette?"  
  
"I think so...but it was an awful memory. I was scared, and hurt...I was bleeding all over the snow, and I didn't even know it..." She shivered. Tai reached over to give her a hug.  
  
"Try to remember...please. Just try. I promise, there will be happy memories to go with the scary ones. I promise."  
  
Snow looked up at him, trying to trust him. "Okay..." Closing her eyes, she tried to pull up the names he'd given her. Yolei...Izzy...Mimi... She sighed, relaxing just a little. Taichi...   
  
It was just enough. Her thoughts began to slide backwards, taking her from her loss of the barrette toward this home Taichi had told her about...  
  
  
  
Snow...wandering...pain! impact!...flying, no, falling...  
  
And then pure, abject terror, forcing itself into her mind in a flare of blue light and screaming and pain-pain-pain-pain-  
  
  
  
"TAICHI!!!"  
  
She wrenched herself out of the memory to find herself covered in a cold sweat, barely able to breathe for fear. It took her a minute to thaw herself enough to realize where she was and what was happening. She was clinging to the boy...Taichi...as though the blue would come and take her away if she let go for even an instant. He was holding her gently, stroking her hair and murmuring to her.  
  
"It's okay...it's all right..."  
  
Slowly, she pulled herself away, drawing herself up to look at him as regally as a queen, though she was shaking like a leaf.  
  
"No. It's not." She swallowed hard, and then suddenly collapsed into her own fear, sobbing into her arms as she lay curled on the sofa. "I can't I can't I can't remember!"  
  
Tai felt fear stab through him like a knife to the heart. "Yes, you can!" he cried, an almost pleading tone in his voice. "You can, Sora, you can!"  
  
"No!" she wailed, curling into a tighter fetal position and trying to block out the traces of blue terror from her mind. "I can't! I won't! I don't want to remember. I don't want to remember!" Her voice rose to a petrified shriek, then broke and faded to a spent breath. "I won't remember," she whispered, with a final sob, and closed her eyes.  
  
_________________________  
  
  
And the plot thickens... M_~* Oh, and for all you purists out there, yes, I know full well that Sora's dad is a university professor and works with Joe's brother, Jim. I just wrote that part of the story before that episode was aired, and I liked it too much to change it. Like it or lump it, it's staying in. M_M  
  
Thank you, everyone who reviewed! It's good to know I have fans. M_~* Keep 'em coming, and we may just get around to posting the next chapter, Despair in the Decisions, before 2002 rolls around! (That also depends on whether I get a chance to go online between now and when the ball drops. Cross your fingers...) -Ciao, and domo arigatou! Bandit yori O_o 


	6. Despair in the Decisions

Chapter 6- Despair in the Decisions  
  
  
  
Kari's eyes opened to the ceiling of her room, and filled with tears.  
  
"Please..." she whispered, a deep sadness filling her to the bottom of her heart. "Please try..." The room was too dark to see in, but that didn't matter to her. She wasn't truly awake anyway. With a sigh, she rolled over and went back to dreaming, moving to happier pastures, a little farther from home and reality. The memory of the dream wouldn't last, but the feeling of hopelessness would.  
  
The next morning, she woke up with dried tears on her cheeks. It was nothing unusual, although she'd never understood it; one doesn't have to know one has Talents for them to surface without one's knowledge, especially when dreaming. If Kari had ever suspected that her mind wandered through others' minds while she slept, she had never put the suspicion into words, even for herself. Still, it was never fun to wake up with the residue of someone else's sadness or fear still left in traces on her soul, whether she knew the reason for her depression or not.  
  
Of course, she did what she always did when she felt hopeless.  
  
She called TK.  
  
Shoot, he's got enough hope for three people, she thought to herself as she dialed. It is his crest, after all. Besides, talking to him would make a tapeworm feel optimistic. Oh, wait, scratch that. I forgot about Davis... She smiled weakly at her own joke and waited anxiously for TK to pick up.  
  
"Hello?" she blurted.  
  
"Hi, Kari."  
  
She frowned. "How'd you know it was me?"  
  
"You're the only person I know who calls me at seven in the morning on a vacation day. Everybody with any sense is asleep right now." A tired chuckle. "Besides, Mom has caller ID, remember?"  
  
Kari blushed, glad that he couldn't see her. She'd forgotten that the phone was right next to his bed. She'd probably woken him up. "Oh, yeah...right. Sorry, but I-"  
  
"Couldn't sleep?"  
  
"You read my mind."  
  
"That's your job, not mine. Bad dreams again?"  
  
"Sort of. I don't remember them, but...I have that miserable feeling again."  
  
"I'm sorry. You know, I dreamed about you last night."  
  
Kari blinked, not sure what this was supposed to mean. "You did."  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah, I dreamed that you called me up at six-fifty-three a.m. to talk about your bad dreams...oh, wait." He paused. "Dang."  
  
Kari giggled. "Okay, okay, I get the hint. I'll hang up now."  
  
"No, no, it's okay," TK assured her quickly. "I was teasing."  
  
"I really should let you sleep, TK."  
  
"No, you don't have to. I'm okay, really..." He paused, and she could hear him yawning hugely.  
  
"Good night, TK," Kari said pointedly. He sighed.  
  
"All right. Hey, want to get breakfast or something? In about..." He paused again, and Kari pictured him leaning over to check his bedside clock. "In about four hours?"  
  
"That's more like brunch."  
  
"Okay, we'll get brunch, then. If I have to get up early enough for you to call it breakfast, I won't be good for anything."  
  
"Yeah, I know," Kari said with a smile. "I don't feel much like dining with TK the sleep-deprived vegetable, any more than you feel like being him. Four hours, then. Is Mister Donut okay?"  
  
"Sure..." Another yawn. "Your mom won't mind?"  
  
"'Course not. And hey, it's an escape from boysenberry-yogurt oatmeal with country-fried yams and radish juice."  
  
"You're kidding."  
  
"Unfortunately, no."  
  
"What's the occasion?"  
  
"Tai getting out of his blue funk over Sora and visiting Matt."  
  
"Then it's a lucky thing he isn't at home, or it would put him right back into it."  
  
"No joke." She paused. "I miss him."  
  
"Me too." They both sat, silent, for a while. Then TK laughed. "Okay, as much as I'm enjoying all this wonderful depressing stuff, I really do need to sleep unless you want to be having brunch with Zombie Boy."  
  
Kari smiled. "Okay. See you at Mister Donut."  
  
"See you."  
  
She hung up, then sat back on her bed and sighed.  
  
I wonder if that bad dream I had was because of Tai being gone? I hope not. There's still one more night until he gets back, and even with TK to keep me from falling into a depression or anything, I'm not looking forward to a weekend of dream-induced misery...  
  
  
  
* * * * *  
  
  
  
"If you'd just try-"  
  
"No. Now stop talking about it."  
  
"But-mmphm!!"  
  
Tai's voice was muffled by the bundle of heavy cloth that Snow thrust into his arms.  
  
"Here. You want to help? Help me with the laundry."  
  
He staggered under the load. "Good grief, these are heavy! What are they?"  
  
Snow shrugged. "Tapestries. They were getting pretty filthy, and I thought I might as well get them clean again." She hurried over to the drying line strung across the improvised washing room and felt another tapestry, deemed it still damp, and turned back to the tub of sooty water in which another of the brightly-colored weavings was soaking.  
  
"Clean...right..." Tai struggled to stay standing. "Ah...where do I put them?"  
  
"Main hall," she said shortly. "Hurry. This batch is almost dry." She gestured to the hanging tapestries, spraying water across the floor from her dripping hands. "Oh, shoot, now I'll have to clean that up, too..." Wincing, she sighed and went back to scrubbing. Tai scowled, but shuffled off down the corridor.  
  
If she would just listen to me, he thought indignantly, beginning to sweat under the load of hangings. Whatever she remembered couldn't have been that bad... Would she really rather stay here forever, washing...tapestries...than remember me? The thought hurt. Sora, the girl he'd known all his remembered life, unwilling to brave a little fear for his sake? They'd saved each other's lives multiple times, and now she was afraid of a little memory?  
  
But she doesn't remember any of that, another, more sensible part of his mind reminded him. She only remembers snow and Fort Winter and fear. And Bella.  
  
Ah, yes. Bella. Tai had met the motherly Frigimon, and had been impressed, maybe even become a little fond of her himself. But honestly, how could Sora just decide that she was her mother? Sure, she was sweet, but her mother? Come on, they didn't even look alike!  
  
He sighed, realizing he'd reached the great hall already. Dropping his load, he dusted off his hands and turned to go back for more.  
  
"Taichi?"  
  
Speak of the Devimon, he thought ruefully, and turned back around.  
  
"What is it, Bella?"  
  
The lady Frigimon was seated by the fire, smiling gently at him. For an enormous white cross between a snowman and a bear, she could be very maternal when she wanted to be.  
  
"Come here, child. I need to talk to you."  
  
"But..." He gestured lamely at the doorway. "Sor...Snow's expecting me to go back for the next load-"  
  
"Snow can wait," Bella said firmly. "This can't. Come and sit."  
  
Bella could also be very commanding. Tai came and sat.  
  
"Well?" he said, dreading her answer. What if she told him to quit asking Sora to remember him?  
  
The Frigimon patted his hand. "You're a good boy. My daughter likes you, whether she'll admit it or not. That speaks well for you; she's a smart girl. But there's something I need to tell you, about this whole memory business."  
  
Here it comes, Tai thought miserably. Goodbye, plan B. Wasn't much of a plan anyway...  
  
"Don't give up."  
  
"What?" Tai looked up at her, genuinely stunned.  
  
"I said don't give up." Bella sighed. "She's stubborn, Snow, but she likes you. She'll give in eventually, but you can't give up on her."  
  
"But..." Tai stared at her. "But I thought you wanted her to be your daughter."  
  
"She's the little one I never had," Bella said with a sigh. "But she's not mine. She belongs to that Mrs. Takenouchi you've told her so much about. I can't take her away from her real mother. I couldn't do that to them." She sighed. "Anyone who raised a daughter like Snow has to be decent, and I can't just...usurp...a decent person's child."  
  
Tai was silent for a long moment. Then he looked up at the motherly Frigimon, who was looking back a bit sadly at him. "I could kiss you," he said solemnly. She laughed and pulled him into an almost literal bear hug.  
  
"I'm glad you're pleased," she said, ruffling his hair with an affectionate paw. "I'd say you were like a son, but...that wouldn't be very nice for you and Snow, now would it?"  
  
Tai blushed, and Bella nodded to herself, satisfied that her guess had been an accurate one.  
  
"I thought not. Take care of her for me, will you?"  
  
"She hardly needs to be taken care of," Tai protested.  
  
"She needs it more than either of you think," Bella said firmly. "That Caesar fellow, or whatever his name was, that did this to her isn't going to be beaten off easily. Not from what you've told us. Promise me you'll take care of Snow." When Tai looked reluctant, she reached over to rest a paw on his shoulder. "Promise me. It's the least you can do for a poor, dilapidated old Digimon who is about to lose the prop of her old age and the light of her eyes," she said, half-teasing.  
  
"Hardly poor and dilapidated," Tai said with a smile, "and never old. All right, I promise. But if you want me to live to keep that promise, you'd better let me get back for the next load of tapestries before Snow decides I'm being lazy and comes looking for me with murder on the mind."  
  
Bella laughed, and made shooing motions with both paws. "Oh, in that case, get out of here! I have no wish to see your ashes scattered to the four winds."  
  
Tai grinned and headed for the door. As he reached it, he paused and turned to look over his shoulder. "Thank you," he said sincerely, and hurried out into the hallway, closing the door behind him.  
  
Bella sat staring after him for a long time. "You're welcome. Take care of yourself as well, Taichi," she said quietly to the empty room. "Snow isn't the only one who needs protecting."  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
An unpleasant cackle echoed through the control room of the Emperor's floating fortress.  
  
"Muhahahahaha..."  
  
"What is it, Ken?" Wormon asked timidly from behind his chair, not sure he wanted the answer. It sounded like whatever it was, it would be unpleasant, and he so disliked doing unpleasant things for his master...he'd much rather have gone home and had tea and brownies.  
  
"If it's any of your business, Wormon," Ken said with his own unique emotion of almost cheerful surliness audible in his voice, "I've just had a truly horrible idea. Rev up the engines, my diminutive lackey. We are going to have some fun..."  
  
Wormon winced. Somehow it didn't sound like his kind of fun.  
  
"But Master..."  
  
"Stow it, Wormon!" Ken snapped, leaping out of his chair and preparing to kick the little green bug Digimon. Wormon scuttled under the chair, whimpering, and Ken lowered his foot. "We are going to Zone 1-46-32," he said, rattling off the numbers confidently. "And you are getting us there within a day, or I will have your carapace for a flower vase. Who knows, it might add a little class to the fortress."  
  
"Isn't that the zone you sent that girl-" Wormon began, confused. Ken cut him off, in a bad mood again.  
  
"It's none of your business! Now go, or I'll make good on that threat!"  
  
"Yes, Ken," Wormon said meekly, and hurried off to get the engines going, thinking longingly of brownies...  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
"Sora?"  
  
Snow kept her back turned to the door. Tai sighed.  
  
"I'm not going to call you Snow anymore, Sora."  
  
Her back stiffened, but she still didn't turn. Tai took a deep breath and stepped into the room. He was saying it all this time, and nothing she did could stop him.  
  
"What?" she asked, quietly, as if not believing her ears. Tai stopped just behind her. "Why...?"  
  
"Because that's not who you are," Tai said firmly. She whirled then, staring at him in something like outrage, but he kept talking. "You're not Snow, you're Sora Takenouchi, the girl I grew up with. You're a champion soccer player, and an amateur flower arranger, and sometimes a pain in the neck, but mostly...mostly one of the greatest people I know, and one of the most important people in my life. If not the most important. And I want you back."  
  
He was silent then, standing there so close to this girl who had drifted so far away from him, but his solemn eyes spoke volumes as they stood with their gazes locked tightly together. The tension in the air was a tangible thing as Snow hesitated, teetering on the edge of giving in to the tenderness in his face as he looked down at her...  
  
But as her resolve started to slip, the coldness of that blue terror struck her again, sending panicked alarm racing through her mind. She actually jerked, as if with a physical blow. Concerned, Tai reached out to her, and she stumbled back, avoiding his touch.  
  
"What is it?" Tai asked, trying to keep his voice understanding and patient, when all he wanted to do was grab her by the shoulders and give her a good shake...what was wrong with her? He'd seen the longing in her eyes for the world he could return her to, but then it was as if a door had slammed in her mind, as her face became distant and coldly closed. "What's wrong with you? Why won't you listen to me?"  
  
A hint of frustration and what would have been anger if frightened sadness hadn't quashed it came through in his tone. Snow's heart tore, but she steeled herself.  
  
"I don't even know you!" she protested. "Why should I just do whatever you say?"  
  
Tai sighed. "You know who I am, Sora. You know who I am, and you know who you are. It's been buried, deep down, and you keep piling more stones on it, because you're afraid of what you'll find if you dig a little. But if you would just try, you could beat this! Please..."  
  
Somehow, that plaintive tone in his voice did it. She couldn't stand this! It hurt to see him there, to speak to him and hear that lost note in every word that begged her to reconsider, to look into that face with its blasted, nagging edge of familiarity! It hurt her somewhere too deep inside to repair, it was an ache and a sadness and a burning longing for something she was afraid to reach for, and even more afraid to admit her fear of... She couldn't take this any more!  
  
Something in Snow snapped.  
  
She turned to look levelly at him. "I know who you are, Taichi."  
  
"You...you do?" Tai's eyes lit up with hope and joy.  
  
"Yeah..." Snow leaned towards him, her face almost warming...then suddenly shoved both hands against him, bowling him over onto the floor. "You're an inconsiderate, arrogant, annoying jerk who won't leave me alone!"  
  
Tai stared at her, as his face crumpled. "Sora..."  
  
"And don't call me that! My name is Snow!"  
  
"Sora, please..." Tai stretched a hand out to her, pleading in his eyes. A pang of guilt shot through her, but she pushed it away. *He deserves this! He refuses to let me live my life, the way I want to! It's my life, after all...not his!*  
  
"Stop it!" she cried, clapping her hands over her ears. "I'm not listening to you anymore!"  
  
"But Sora...I care about you..."  
  
"I'M NOT SORA!" she shrieked, surprising them both with the vehemence and anger in her voice. There was a shocked silence as they stared at each other, misery and loss in his eyes, fury and fear in hers, pain running between them in a tangible river that separated them like a knife. Then, Snow turned away.  
  
"Sora is dead," she whispered coldly into the silence, and left, closing the door softly behind her...  
  
  
____________________________________  
  
  
-_-*** Ouch, ne? Well, I promised to have the next chapter up before New Years, and I kept my promise. The next one is not going up until I get some reviews, though. (*grins* Isn't blackmail fun? Mwahaha...) So if you want to know what happens next...review!!! *M_M*   
  
2001 WAS GOOD AND BAD  
BUT NOW IT'S GONE I'M KIND OF SAD  
THE YEAR HAS BEEN A BRIGHT ONE, FOLKS  
WITH TEARS AND LAUGHTER, FEARS AND JOKES  
I KNOW THERE'S LOTS OF JOY TO COME  
AND WE'LL COME THROUGH IT #1  
SO GATHER FRIENDS, AND LOVED ONES, TOO  
AND SHOUT "HELLO 2002!!!"  
  
***HAPPY NEW YEAR, FANFICTION.NET!***  
  
-Bandit yori O_o 


	7. Tears in the Night

Chapter 7- Tears in the Night  
  
  
  
"I still can't believe you ate three curry donuts," Kari said, half in disgust and half in amusement, as she and TK left the Odaiba branch of Mister Donut. He shrugged.  
  
"What can I say? I was hungry."  
  
"That's not my point," she snorted. "My point is that even Izzy can't stand those things, and he's got the weirdest tastes in food of anyone I know!"  
  
"Well, I guess he just lost his title," TK said with a smile. "If you would just try one..."  
  
"No way, no how, Takaishi Takeru," Kari said firmly. "I-"  
  
Her voice cut off suddenly, and TK looked over at her in surprise...which quickly turned to alarm.  
  
"Kari!" he exclaimed, catching hold of her elbow. "Kari, are you okay?"  
  
Her face had gone suddenly white, and she was shaking slightly. "Tai..." The name leaked from between lips pressed bloodlessly together as she stared off into nothingness.  
  
"What is it? Kari!" TK cried, giving her a little shake. She stumbled, snapping out of it with a gasp, and would have fallen if it hadn't been for TK's steadying grip on her arm.  
  
"I..." she mumbled, looking disoriented. TK led her quickly to a nearby bench, sitting her down and taking a seat next to her.  
  
"What happened?" he asked, as gently as he could, as her shaking slowed and stopped.  
  
"My brother," Kari whispered, the color still missing from her cheeks. "He..." She shuddered. "Something's wrong," she finished weakly. "I felt it, somehow... Oh, TK, we have to get him back! Something terrible is happening, I just know it! Or going to happen..."  
  
TK hesitated, not sure what to do with the situation, but then he remembered the frequent times Kari had surprised them all before. This foresight, or ESP, or whatever it was, was nothing new, just another variation on the same familiar theme. It seemed things would never be normal when Kari was around.  
  
"It's okay," he said softly, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. "We'll go tell Izzy, and he'll figure something out. Don't worry."  
  
Kari sniffled, but nodded. "I guess..." she whispered. TK smiled comfortingly at her, and stood, helping her up.  
  
"Good girl, that's the spirit. C'mon, let's go spread the word. Between the lot of us, we're bound to come up with something."  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
When Snow woke up the next morning, she felt like a wreck. As soon as she'd gotten out of Tai's sight the night before, her cold, queenly exit had disintegrated into a sobbing rush for her room. It had hurt so much to do that to him...  
  
She'd spent most of the night thinking about why she'd done it, and she still couldn't come up with an answer that soothed her raw conscience.  
  
So she'd done what any sensible girl would do in her situation; she'd cried herself to sleep.  
  
Now, looking back on the whole disaster, she wondered how on earth she'd gotten into this fix. The problem was, she still didn't have all the pieces to the puzzle...  
  
*And with any luck, I never will,* she thought, taking herself in hand. *It's all very well to be weepy all night, but do you really want to spend today being wretched, too?* With a sigh, she slid out of bed, throwing her tear-soaked 'pillow'-a wadded-up blanket-into a corner of the little tower room and padding barefoot to the door.  
  
When she opened it, she found a bowl of water and a towel.  
  
"Bella," Snow murmured, not sure whether to smile or shake her head. Kneeling, she tested the water with her finger; it was freezing. "Good," she said, and splashed her tear-swollen face, yelping at the sudden chill in spite of herself, then dried off with the towel. After a few minutes of taming her hair into something more presentable than the bed-headed mess it had become over the long, restless night, she headed for the kitchens for some breakfast, feeling almost human again.  
  
As she reached the door to the great hall, a single silhouette seated by the fire made her freeze in her tracks.  
  
*Oh, no...* she thought weakly. *Couldn't I at least have gotten something to eat before I had to face him again?* She hesitated in the doorway, debating whether it would be smart or just childish to backtrack and take a detour to the kitchen.  
  
"Hey."  
  
His voice was flat. She winced: too late. Now she was trapped.  
  
"Hey," she responded, tentatively. "I...um...good morning..."  
  
He didn't respond immediately, but sat staring into the fire for a long moment. Snow took the opportunity to hurry toward the door on the opposite side of the hall, hoping to beat a quick retreat...  
  
"There's something I need to tell you."  
  
*Here we go again,* Snow thought, her guilt almost disappearing in annoyance. *Doesn't this guy ever give up?*  
  
She walked over to him anyway, though. The guilt might have been partly blotted out, but it still had a hold on her. Taking a seat next to him on the warm flagstones, she looked at him carefully...*really* looked at him, maybe for the first time in her limited memory. He really was good looking, she admitted to herself, in a kind of boyish way. His eyes were tired, though, and his face broadcasted sorrow. Snow blinked.  
  
"What?" she asked. He shifted slightly, turning his head to return her intense gaze.  
  
"Today's the day the others were going to pick us up," he said, and the flatness remained in his voice, as though he was deliberately trying to keep emotion out of the words. Snow nodded slowly, not sure where this was leading.  
  
"I know. So?" she answered, trying to imitate his level tone.  
  
Tai took a deep breath. "I'm not going."  
  
"What?!"  
  
Snow's voice was a shocked cry. Tai just looked at her with infuriating calmness.  
  
"I had a lot of time to think things over last night, and I decided: I'm not going," he explained, as though telling her the time of day or something equally normal. "They'll be all right without me. Even if Sora is...dead..." -his voice wavered on the word, the tightly reined control breaking for a second before he clamped down on it again- "...Snow's still around, and...and you're all I have left of her," he finished, a little too quickly. "I can't leave you here. I'm staying."  
  
His voice bordered on both sadness and hope in those last sentences. Snow stared at him, her ears ringing.  
  
*What on earth did I do to deserve this devotion?* she thought faintly, as his gaze continued to hold hers. Tears began to well up in her eyes again, and she stumbled to her feet, hurrying to the door. She paused when she reached it, looking back at him. He faced into the fire, his sorrowful profile outlined against the flames, unmoving...  
  
Then she fled, and the door swung shut behind her.  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
"He won't go through with it." The old cook's words were calm and almost amused as he stirred a pawful of spice into the day's stew. The food would simmer all day on the back of the stove before being served that night for dinner.  
  
"You think so, Mojyamon?" Snow said hopefully from where she stood in the doorway of the kitchen, wrapped in her blankets again like a squaw.  
  
"Absolutely," Mojyamon agreed, putting the lid firmly on the pot and pushing it to the rear of his massive stove. "He's got a family back there, unless he's been telling lies all this time, and friends and a good life to boot. I'd wager my best apron he won't be here to eat a bite of this stew. More's the pity," he added with a furry smile. "It's going to be delicious."  
  
"Thanks, Mojyamon," Snow said, feeling a bit better. She went to the water tank and picked up a pair of buckets. "I guess I'll just go on with my day, in that case. I've neglected my chores long enough."  
  
The cook laughed, shaking his shaggy head. "You are an industrious little creature, aren't you?" he said fondly. "Go ahead, then. There'll be no stopping you, and anyway, maybe it'll take your mind off this Taichi fellow. The sooner he's gone, the better, I say."  
  
Snow nodded. "I absolutely agree, Mojyamon. See you in a minute!" Grabbing the little ice pick and dumping it into one of her buckets, she hurried out the door, feeling almost jaunty...  
  
As she passed through the main hall, the sight of that solitary figure at the fireside sobered her a bit. What if Mojyamon was wrong? What if Taichi did give up everything for her?  
  
*He won't,* she told herself sternly. *It's impossible. Now get a hold of yourself and go get that water.*  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
The school computer room was once again filled with all ten of the remaining Digidestined, and the Digimon of the active six. Thirty-two eyes were glued to the clock, which was ticking closer to Tai's deadline.  
  
A whimper escaped Kari, and TK reached over and took her hand.  
  
"It'll be okay," he whispered. Kari took a deep breath and nodded. TK looked back at the clock, wishing he felt the confidence he had put into his voice. Everyone was worried, and the room was full of tension.  
  
The second hand ticked away...  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
When Sora came into the great hall with her bucket and rags for cleaning the hearth, Tai was gone. Turning, surprised, she saw that the huge door to the outside had been left ajar.  
  
"What do you know?" she said softly. "Mojyamon was right..."  
  
Something twinged at her heart, and she scowled.  
  
"Like I care! He's better off back in his own world!" she snapped, frustrated with herself. *I can't be missing that pain in the neck! ...Can I?*  
  
"Snow? Is that you?"  
  
The soft voice made her jump, and she nearly dropped her bucket. Setting it down, she hurried to the doorway.  
  
He was standing outside, arms wrapped tightly around himself for warmth as he looked out at the blank expanse of sparkling white. As she came up behind him, he didn't meet her eyes or even turn. His eyes scanned the horizon, then dropped to an odd-looking bracelet he wore on his wrist.  
  
"Taichi? What's that?" she asked, almost timidly. He finally looked up, and smiled weakly.  
  
"It's called a watch," he said, and there was a faint sadness in his voice that she didn't understand. "You can see what time it is by looking at it."  
  
Snow frowned. "Why would you need to know that? All you have to do is look at the sun; Bella is going to teach me, when she has the time."  
  
He sighed, and tilted his wrist to show her a circular metal-and-glass decoration on the bracelet. "Here, look. See that symbol right there? That stands for the number three. And that one is a six. When this short hand points at the three, and the long one points at the six, our friends are going to try and bring us back." His voice was even and carefully controlled, but inside, Tai felt like the rope in a brutal tug-of-war. *Half an hour left, and the decision of a lifetime to make in it...*  
  
Blinking, Snow looked closer. That little circle of glass could say when things were going to happen? How odd. Curiosity welled up in her; what other wonders did Taichi's world hold?  
  
He shivered, and Snow pushed away her doubts. She was staying, and that was final. He could do as he liked... Still, she didn't like to see him out here in the cold, however little she liked to admit it.  
  
"If you're not going to go, you might as well come inside," she said, trying to sound as cool as her name. When he didn't respond, she hesitated...then reached out and gently touched his shoulder, letting her cold fingers rest on it for a second.  
  
He half turned, looking at her in surprise. "Snow?"  
  
"I don't want you getting sick because of me," she blurted, and hurried back into the fort.  
  
Tai stood for a few long minutes more outside the door of Fort Winter, as the snow piled up in eddies around his boots, almost as if it were trying to hold on to him.  
  
*And that's what she's doing,* he thought, sadly smiling. *Whether she knows it or not, she needs me...and she doesn't have anyone else.* Starting to go inside, he paused, sending a wistful look over his shoulder.  
  
The snow sparkled.  
  
*I never really had a choice,* he thought, and followed her inside.  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
"We're approaching the sector, Ken."  
  
The Emperor smiled, his icy blue eyes bright with unpleasant fun. "Wonderful. I'll refrain from kicking you out of this fortress for one more day, Wormon. You continue to prove useful in some small way or another. Bring us in, but slowly. I want to sneak up on them."  
  
Normally, Wormon would have stayed quiet, but the upcoming 'entertainment' seemed to have put Ken in the closest thing to a good mood that he ever got into. He ventured a question.  
  
"What...exactly...are you planning to do?"  
  
Ken chuckled. "Wormon, my pitiful little arthropod, we are going to play a little sport I call 'mind games'..."  
  
Wormon shuddered as he reached for the controls. Someone always got hurt when Ken was in 'good' mood. He'd learned by now; it was best to just get it over with...  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
"Three thirty!" Izzy announced, relief and worry warring in his voice. "I'm bringing them back, guys."  
  
There was a ragged cheer. Izzy had already punched up the program; now he reached for the enter button, and pressed it firmly into the keyboard.  
  
"Executing..." the computer droned. "Searching for lifeforms..."  
  
The tension in the air was so thick one could have cut it with a knife. Everyone held their breath...  
  
"Searching..."  
  
Across the room, Matt clenched his teeth.  
  
"Come on, buddy," he whispered, so low that it was barely audible. "Come on, don't quit now..."  
  
Yolei had crossed all of the fingers on both her hands, and was rocking slightly, nervously, as she stared at the screen. Beside her, Izzy's eyes were glued to his readouts, trying to find anything that might be interpreted as Tai or Sora's life signs...  
  
"Searching..."  
  
Kari's breathing began to become ragged, as tears welled up in her eyes. Her grip tightened on TK's hand. "Tai..."  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
Snow was silently scrubbing the floor when Tai came into the kitchen. He paused, his gaze lingering on her, and then walked to the window and looked out, resting his arms on the sill.  
  
Time passed. Then Snow spoke.  
  
"Is it...time?"  
  
"Not yet," he said, his back still to her. Snow swallowed hard, and went back to scrubbing.  
  
More time passed.  
  
"Now?" she half-whispered.  
  
"Almost," he said. His voice sounded tightly stretched, as though it were about to break; as if that one word was all it could bear. Snow squeezed her eyes shut, her fingers clenching around the rag she held, squeezing until it seemed to weep the water it held onto the stone floor beside her.  
  
*It's none of my business,* she told herself desperately, her inner voice as close to breaking as his. *It's none of my business. It's his life, not mine. I don't care. None of my business, none of my business, none of my-*  
  
"It's time," Tai said, quietly, and Snow's eyes opened. He still faced away from her, but from where she knelt, she could see how tightly he held onto the windowsill. She got carefully to her feet and went to him, standing beside him and looking where his eyes rested.  
  
As she watched, a green-gold vortex opened in the sky, a good half-mile or so away across the flat snowy plains. It shimmered in the air, and Snow almost smiled. *It's so beautiful...*  
  
The smile was stillborn; it died the moment she remembered the boy standing next to her. *He should be there,* she thought, and the guilt she'd been trying to deny all day crept into her throat and sat there like a toad. *Why is he doing this?*  
  
Her ear caught a soft sound, and she glanced away from the lovely brightness of the portal to look at Taichi. His face was torn and resigned all at once, and so sad that it hurt to look at. He seemed to have forgotten her presence as he looked out at his last chance to go home, shining so far away...  
  
As she watched, he swallowed, and a tear slid down his cheek.  
  
"Taichi," Snow whispered, struck. She reached up a shaking hand to brush the tear away, and he looked down at her.  
  
His eyes were too much to bear.  
  
Snow cried out as if in pain, pushing away from the window in a refusal to look at him. "Why are you doing this?!"  
  
"I have to stay," he said, as if explaining something very simple to an impatient child. "You need me, Snow. I need you..."  
  
"No!" she snapped, too frustrated and guilt-wracked to soften her voice. "No, you don't need me, you need that!" She pointed vehemently out the window at the shining portal. "You need your friends, and your family, and everybody you told me about. You have to go back to them! You have to!"  
  
He just looked at her, and she wished she could scream...  
  
"You don't understand."  
  
"I know I don't! I don't care if I don't, you can't stay here, you don't belong here!" she shouted.  
  
"Neither do you!" His eyes flashed with emotion. "You belong there, with the same people I do...but if this is where you want to stay, I'm staying, too! I'm as stubborn as you are, Snow. You just don't remember it...or don't want to!"  
  
"You're the one who's not listening!" she wailed, her insides twisting. "You don't listen and you don't help and you won't go away! You're horrible! I hate you!" The words tore from her; she threw them at him like arrows, every one barbed and poisoned, trying to throw her guilt away with them and instead feeling it grow with every sentence. Raising her fists, she rushed at him, beating them against his chest like a sobbing child. "I hate you I hate you I hate you!"  
  
He caught her wrists in a strong grip and held her as she tried to twist away.  
  
"Snow, stop it!"  
  
"Let me go!" she shrieked, panicked, despairing, tears running down her cheeks like rain. "Why won't you just leave me alone!?"  
  
"Because I love you!"  
  
The shouted words froze them both for a split second, as they stared at each other's tear-streaked faces. Then Tai leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers in a desperate kiss.  
  
Snow's mind was reeling, her heart battering against her ribs like a caged bird, but her hands slowly unclenched, her fingers trembling. She kissed back, clumsily, still crying helplessly as he let go of her wrists, his arms closing gently around her. Clinging to one another for comfort, their tears ran together into one bittersweet fall, as beyond them in the sky, the portal closed.  
  
  
_____________________________________  
  
  
Author's Notes: *sigh* This one nearly had *me* in tears just writing it. I love it, though; it's one of my favorite scenes in all of the fanfiction I've written. I hope you got as much out of the experience as I did. M_~*  
  
Also, I have good/bad news; there's only one more chapter. I know full well that everybody stops reviewing after a story is finished, so I'm going to make one second-to-last plea for reviews. If you think this chapter has any virtue, or this story, or even if you just feel like a shoutout to SUPPORT TAIORA, tell me so...please. (Heheh...or I might just leave you hanging for a few weeks. I'm in no hurry... *evil grin*)  
  
Arigatou gozaimasu! -Bandit yori O_o 


	8. Eternity in a Moment

Chapter 8- Eternity in a Moment  
  
  
"Lifeforms not found."  
  
"Tai!"  
  
Kari's wail was echoed in the heart of every person and Digimon in the room as she leapt to her feet, running across the room to look desperately at the screen.  
  
"Run it again," she begged, turning to Izzy. "Please, run it again. It's a glitch in the system, it'll find him this time..."  
  
Izzy's face was bleak. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "He was my friend, too."  
  
"No!" Kari said, whirling away. "Don't say that! Don't say you're sorry! He's not gone, he can't be!"  
  
"He promised he would make it back," Davis croaked from his seat nearby. "Tai never breaks a promise..."  
  
Matt stared at his hands. "Tai..."  
  
Kari's throat closed. "He can't be gone," she whispered, as TK stood and gently took her hand again. "He's my brother..."  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
The portal was gone; but another shape loomed in the sky over Fort Winter. The Emperor's floating fortress hung suspended like a huge wasp's nest, coming quickly closer...  
  
A Gabumon on watch spotted it first, and came sprinting back into the fort, sounding the alarm as he ran. Soon Frigimon were piling out of their rooms, dropping what they were doing to run to the windows and stare out at the monstrous object in the sky. The commotion quickly reached the kitchen, and Tai and Snow moved apart, looking outside...  
  
"The Emperor," Tai whispered. "Sora, we have to get you out of here!"  
  
"No," Snow said, taking a deep breath. "No more hiding. If he's the one that did this to me, maybe...maybe he can undo it."  
  
"Sora?" Tai said, startled. Had she finally...?  
  
Snow nodded. "I am not letting you ruin your life just for stupid, stubborn me. Come on." She grabbed his hand, and they exchanged a quick look. Tai grinned.  
  
"You're the boss..."  
  
Wiping the tears from her face with her free arm as she ran, Snow led the way as they thundered up the spiral stairs of the tallest tower in Fort Winter...  
  
Somehow, she'd forgotten to remind him of her real name...or maybe 'Sora' didn't seem so foreign anymore...  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
"Master? We've reached the fort."  
  
"Wonderful." Ken strode toward the door, heading for the reinforced chamber where his draconian steeds were kept. "Come with me, Wormon. You can handle the comm."  
  
"But Ken, who-"  
  
"I'll let our new acquisition command her creation personally for once. I've got better things to do than push buttons. Come on!"  
  
Wormon gulped, and followed his master.  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
As they practically exploded out into the snowy tower-top, Tai and Sora screeched to a stop at the sight of the massive fortress hanging in the air. It was at least the size of Fort Winter, if not larger...  
  
Snow gulped, looking up...and up...and up.... *How can that thing stay in the air? It's enormous...*  
  
A long, sinuous shape curled down towards them from a hangar bay at the side of the ship, and Tai gritted his teeth. The dragonlike Digimon bore its two passengers down toward them, and paused, hovering, in the air beside the tower.  
  
"So, Digibrats. We meet again."  
  
The voice was cruel. Snow's eyes narrowed angrily.  
  
"You! You did this to me!" Her fists clenched, and she took a step forward, letting go of Taichi's hand. "Fix whatever it was, now! I want my memories back!"  
  
"Memories?" Ken arched an eyebrow behind his sunglasses, and then grinned. "Of course! A blow to the head would...oh, this is better than I could have imagined!" He leaned forward over the dragon's neck, leering evilly at her. "So, little bratling, you've lost your memory. I suppose that means you don't remember the danger and fear of being a Digidestined?"  
  
Snow hesitated. "I..."  
  
The Emperor's grin was sardonic. "You have no idea what you're getting back into, do you, you little fool? But it's too late now. You've chosen your camp, and it's about to be annihilated..." An unpleasant grin crossed his face, as he nodded to Wormon. "Give the signal."  
  
Gulping, Wormon nodded and turned to the comm.  
  
"Th-th-throw the switch..." he stammered into it.  
  
"What switch?" Tai demanded angrily. Beside him, Snow shivered, a bad feeling coming over her... "What are you up to now? You'd better not hurt her-"  
  
Ken laughed, harshly, cutting off Tai's words. "Or you'll what? Oh, never mind. I have no intention of touching the girl."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
The Emperor smiled.  
  
"I don't need to."  
  
At that moment, with a sound like a window shattering, a bluish ball of light crackled into existence to the right of the dragon Digimon, throwing odd shadows across the snowy stones of the tower.  
  
Snow let out a shriek of terror, hiding her face in her arms and shrinking away from it as if it was some kind of predator...and she was the prey.  
  
"Sora!" Tai cried, reaching out to her. She whimpered and flinched away from him, hands clamped over her ears. "Sora, what is it? What did you do to her?!" he yelled, whirling on Ken with fury in his eyes.  
  
Ken laughed again. "I told you, nothing. She's only reacting naturally...or didn't you ever wonder why she was so afraid of the color blue?"  
  
Tai stared at the crackling light, which was the size of a dinner plate and growing.  
  
" 'As if someone punched a hole in the space-time continuum,'" he quoted, remembering... *"... it would be a rough ride. There's an incredible chaos factor in that thing, even days after it was created. Prolonged passage through one of them could probably..."*  
  
"What's wrong, Sora?" Ken jeered from above them, reveling in her fear. "You want to go home, don't you? That's where this Dark Portal of mine leads to! Why don't you just jump in?" He burst out laughing, drunk with cruel delight.  
  
The portal flared, becoming the size of a child's swimming pool, and Snow cried out again, crumpling to the ground.   
  
"Snow!" The cry came from the doorway to the tower; not ten feet behind them, Bella filled the doorframe, paws to her mouth in horror as she helplessly watched the scene before her. Behind her, a dozen other Gabumon and Frigimon stood, equally at a loss. Seeing them, the Emperor grinned.  
  
"How cute. The welcoming committee." He jerked a thumb at the fortress. "Take one step out of there and I'll blow this tower and everyone in it to smithereens. I only want the two human children; give me a few minutes with them and I'll leave you in peace."  
  
"A few minutes to kill them, more like!" shouted the young Frigimon guard who'd been so suspicious of Tai when he'd first arrived. Now he shook a clenched fist at the boy on the dragon. "Who do you think you are?"  
  
"Snow, what's wrong with you?" Bella cried. If Frigimon could cry, she would have been. Instead, ice crystals streamed down her furry cheeks. Her surrogate daughter was in danger, and she was helpless... "Get up! Please get up!"  
  
Snow's eyes blinked open, and she gazed dazedly at the face of her 'mother'.  
  
"Bella...I'm scared..." she managed to whimper. Bella held out her paws.  
  
"I know, child...but you don't have to be..." The motherly Frigimon smiled, tremblingly. "You're not meant to be afraid. You're a strong girl...now, more than ever, you have to be brave..."  
  
As she stared at Bella, Sora heard Tai's voice beside her.  
  
"That thing-that's what you used to bring her here! You unspeakable-"  
  
"Convenient, isn't it? I knew you Digidestined couldn't leave one of your own to die, and look! Fate delivered the ringleader himself into my hands!" Ken grinned, sadistically. "Of course, I couldn't resist having a little fun first."  
  
"A little fun," Tai echoed, his voice heavy with revulsion. "You're sick, you know that?"  
  
"Why, thank you," Ken smiled. "Now, if I were you, I'd say goodbye to your sweetheart. I can't keep you two around forever, you know."  
  
An energy ball appeared, slowly growing, in the dragon's mouth. Tai swallowed. *Sora isn't going to be able to dodge...* Slowly, he moved between the Emperor and the motionless girl.  
  
Sora stared up at him. *He's shielding me...with his life... He's so brave.* She swallowed, feeling the tide of fear well up in her...  
  
Bella's eyes, locked with hers, whispered, *Make me proud.*  
  
And a small smile appeared on Sora's lips, as she gathered Bella's affection and all of Fort Winter's friendship and her own strength...and Tai's love...  
  
*Right. I will...Mother.*  
  
...and pushed the fear away.  
  
"You don't touch her without going through me."  
  
Ken shrugged.  
  
"Fine."  
  
The ball of fire blasted from the dragon's mouth, as Tai tensed, waiting for the impact...  
  
It never came. Instead, something slammed into him, sending him flying across the cold stones to land out of harm's way as the fireball exploded against the tower roof where he'd been, shattering rock and melting snow...  
  
Dazed, he sat up...and next to him, Snow sat up as well, grinning.  
  
"Sorry about freezing up on you back there," she said, looking sheepish but pleased with herself. "I figured I owed you a little help and all...seeing as we are best friends."  
  
"Snow?" Tai murmured, surprised.  
  
She paused. *Am I?* Then, the answer hit her, and she nodded to herself. *I'm not Snow...I never really was. Snow was something to hide behind until I was ready, nothing more. And I *am* ready. I want my past!*  
  
"No," she said, shaking her head.  
  
She extended her hand to him, and he took it.  
  
"Sora," she corrected, and his eyes lit up. Grinning, Sora pulled him into a hug.  
  
"So I guess you decided?" he whispered in her ear. She snorted.  
  
"Better believe it. I want to meet all these people you've been telling me about. And besides..." She smiled, ruefully, into his hair. "I'd have been miserable without you."  
  
Tai grinned. "Sora..."  
  
"Oh, how sweet," came the voice from behind them. "If you're quite through, could we please get on with the business of killing you?"  
  
"Trust a jerk like him to crash the party," Sora muttered. "Got any suggestions for getting out of here?"  
  
Tai hesitated. "Well, I see one way..."  
  
Sora went a bit pale. "No way...you trust his word? On where it goes?"  
  
"No," Tai said, with a short, mirthless laugh. "But Izzy said the disturbances caused by the first rip would only allow portals to be opened along the track of the original portal. So I don't see where else it would lead. Besides, it would be just like that monster to add a little danger to his ruse. I suppose it ups the adrenaline rush, or something."  
  
"Taichi, those things are awful! Once was enough...it feels like you're going to fly into a million pieces!"  
  
Tai's face was grave as he pulled away from her to look into her eyes.  
  
"I know...I saw what it did to you. But I'm willing to go for it, if it'll get us home. Are you?"  
  
*Oh, man...but really, what choice do we have?* Swallowing, Sora nodded. "Well, it would be the last thing he expects..."  
  
"Exactly-he might not believe we're going to do it, for a second or two. And that would give us the time we need..."  
  
"Yeah, you'd have to be crazy to jump into one of those things on your own," Sora said with a tight laugh. Tai smiled.  
  
"Well, that is what we Digidestined are famous for: our utter lack of sanity."  
  
Taking a deep breath, Sora nodded. "If it's adrenaline he wants...let's give it to him. I'm with you, Tai."  
  
Tai grinned. "Great. Lets do this thing!"  
  
Grabbing hands, they leapt to their feet and took off running.  
  
On his 'steed', Ken frowned. "What now? What kind of harebrained..." Suddenly, he blanched. "No. No, they...they wouldn't..."  
  
"Wouldn't what, Master?" Wormon asked, puzzled. Ken looked almost terrified... Suddenly, the Emperor snatched the comm from his Digimon's claws, bellowing into it.  
  
"Close the portal! Close it, now!!"  
  
A tinny voice filtered from the speaker. "Ken, I can't just slam it shut...the repercussions could be..."  
  
"I don't care about the repercussions, you little filth! Close the portal, NOW!"  
  
Back on the tower, Tai and Sora exchanged quick looks as they hurtled across the half-melted snow toward the still-growing portal.  
  
"You might...want to brace yourself," Sora panted. Tai nodded.  
  
"Right..."  
  
The sound of clattering computer keys came from the speaker in Ken's hand.  
  
"What are you *doing*?" Ken screamed.  
  
Deep within the fortress, a smile appeared on a young face, as a slender finger industriously hammered on the space key, and a pair of eyes watched two fleeing figures on a glowing screen.  
  
"Typing as fast as I can, sir! I've run into unforeseen difficulties-"  
  
Shaking, Ken watched as helplessly as had his victims a moment ago, as the two running figures reached the edge of the tower...  
  
Sora cast a swift look over her shoulder, to see Bella smiling through her frozen tears.  
  
"I love you Mother!" she called.  
  
Bella nodded. "Good luck...Sora!"  
  
Smiling, Sora turned to look ahead of herself again. The stone wall at the edge of the tower loomed ahead, and beyond that the crackling blue light of danger.  
  
Holding tightly to each other's hands, the two runners gathered themselves...and leaped.  
  
For a long moment, they seemed to hang suspended in midair.   
  
The portal reached out arms of light to catch them. There was a flash of blue-white light.  
  
And then...they were gone.  
  
  
  
*****  
  
  
  
Pain rattled through Sora's frame, as the roar of static filled her ears. A thousand fragments of memory danced in her mind, taunting her.  
  
*I'llprotectyou!It'sallmyfault.WhenI'mwithyouIdon'tmissmymomsomuch...Flirting?!Iwasnotflirtingwithhim!Beautiful...CasseopeiaMimiI'vegottocallMimiwhat'sgoingon? Tai!*  
  
"TAI!" The one complete thought burst from her lips in a cry for help...  
  
The grip on her hand tightened.  
  
"I'm here! Don't let go!"  
  
Strength appeared out of nowhere. She wasn't alone! Tai was here with her..  
  
Just like he'd always been.  
  
*Tai...*  
  
There was a clap of thunder, and the whirling juggernaut world of blue seemed to convulse-and spat them out with an explosion of stars, onto a linoleum floor.  
  
The room spun around them, slowly, like a carousel. Someone was shouting something, but Tai's ears were ringing from the static, and he couldn't hear...  
  
Sora lay limp beside him, her eyes closed.  
  
"Sora!" he cried, pulling himself into a sitting position. He leaned over her, fear rising in his throat. The turbulence in the portal had been so awful...what if...  
  
Her eyes blinked open, and she frowned, trying to get her eyes to focus.  
  
"Tai," she whispered, and a smile dawned on her face. "Tai...and Kari?"  
  
Tai spun, saw his sister's stunned, tear-streaked face behind him. The computer room in the school...they were back! But how had Sora recognized...?  
  
Sora slowly sat up. "I...I remember..." Suddenly, her face lit up. "I remember! Kari, and Izzy, and Mama, and...and even Tokyo! Oh, Tai, it's all back! I faced the blue! I remember!!"  
  
She launched herself into his arms, and he held her, laughing and crying, as the other Digidestined all ran to their friends, everyone talking at once. In the midst of the confusion, Sora grinned up at Tai.  
  
"I remember...that I love you."  
  
Tai grinned back, and leaned toward her. Once again their tears mingled as they kissed...but now, they were tears of happiness.  
  
The last shadows vanished...and life went on.  
  
  
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** 


	9. Epilogue- The Enemy of My Enemy...

Epilogue- The Enemy of My Enemy...  
  
  
Ken stormed into a small chamber in the deepest bowels of his fortress, his cape flying behind him, and went straight to the seated figure within, grabbing her chair and spinning it around.  
  
"What were you doing?!" he screamed, little flecks of spit flying to hit the startled girl's face. "I told you to close that portal!"  
  
"Say it, don't spray it," she muttered under her breath, rubbing the moisture away. Ken's pupils contracted as he stared at her, bordering on apoplexy.  
  
"What did you say?"  
  
"Nothing," she shot back. "I ran into unforeseen difficulties, that's all. I told you that!"  
  
Ken shouted for her to shove her 'difficulties' somewhere unlikely.  
  
*Oh, that would help a lot,* she thought, with a mental sigh. *He doesn't think when he gets this way. Sometimes it seems like he hasn't thought since he found Sam's Digivice...*  
  
*slap!*  
  
Brought suddenly and painfully back to reality, the girl reeled, her hand going up to touch her smarting cheek.  
  
"Listen to me!!" Ken yelled. He paused, getting himself back under control. The sound of the girl's labored breathing as she tried not to cry helped his mood a lot. When he spoke again, his voice was dangerously calm. "I. Will. Not. Be. Disobeyed. If you will not do as I wish, I will *make* you obey me!"  
  
"What are you talking about?" the girl snapped. Ken smiled.  
  
"I had hoped I wouldn't have to use your own inventions against you. Family ties are hard to go against. But you leave me no choice." He snapped his fingers, and a pair of Gazimon appeared from the shadows of the door, bearing something dark between them. The girl's eyes went wide.  
  
"Oh, no...Ken, no! Not me! Please!" She leapt to her feet, trying to flee, but Ken was faster, grabbing her arms and twisting her back into her seat.  
  
"What's wrong?" he hissed. "Not pleased to be your own test subject? I had to try them on someone before I went after my next quarry, you know. Did you think you would get off scot-free for helping the Digibrats? Nice try, little cousin."  
  
As the Gazimon advanced, the girl struggled and cried, but in her heart she knew her fate already. Gritting her teeth, she waited for the clasp of iron around the arm Ken forced out toward the waiting Digimon.  
  
*Now I know I've lost you...oh, Ken, I should have gone with them! You're nothing but evil anymore...*  
  
  
**owari**  
  
  
______________________________________________  
  
  
Creepy ending, ne? The epilogue title, of course, comes from the old saying, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'. I couldn't resist using it, since it explains so well why Ken's mysterious assistant did what she did for Tai and Sora. And yes, there is a sequel coming for this, sooner or later. It was originally going to be a trilogy, but I spent thirteen months trying to finish this first story (believe it or not, it started last November!) and the plot of the second story wasn't very good or very relevant, so I might just squish it away and go straight to number three instead. Well? What did you think? Send me some comments, ne? O_- 


End file.
